Crime
Malaysia’s former first lady Rosmah sentenced to 10 years in Jail for Graft
A Malaysian court on Thursday sentenced Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, to a decade in prison for seeking and receiving bribes in exchange for government contracts, just days after her husband was jailed for corruption.
Rosmah will also have to pay a fine of 970 million ringgit ($216.45 million) over three bribery charges, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said, adding that the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The judge granted her a stay of sentence, so Rosmah will not go to jail on Thursday. She can appeal the decision in two higher courts.
Rosmah, dressed in a yellow baju kurung – a traditional Malaysian long blouse and skirt – and matching headscarf, addressed the judge tearfully immediately after the verdict.
“I must admit that I’m very sad with what happened today,” she said. “Nobody saw me taking the money, nobody saw me counting the money…. but if that’s the conclusion, I leave it to God.”
Her lawyers had asked for a one-day jail sentence, while prosecutors sought “maximum or near maximum.”
The former first lady, seen as a powerful figure behind Najib, has been widely scorned in Malaysia for her extravagant lifestyle and penchant for Hermes Birkin bags.
Rosmah, 70, had pleaded not guilty to the three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes between 2016 and 2017 to help a company secure a $279 million solar power supply project from Najib’s government.
Prosecutors say Rosmah sought a bribe of 187.5 million ringgit ($41.80 million) and received 6.5 million ringgit from an official of the company that won the project.
Rosmah has argued that she was framed by her former aide as well as several government and company officials involved in the project.
Rosmah also faces 17 charges of money laundering and tax evasion in a separate case.
Najib and his wife, who has faced criticism for her lavish lifestyle, are at the center of a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption mounted after defeat in a historic 2018 election ended Najib’s nine years in power.
Last week, Najib began serving a 12-year jail sentence after Malaysia’s top court upheld his conviction in a case linked to a multibillion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He remains on trial in four other corruption cases.
Najib was voted out of power amid public outrage over the 1MDB scandal, which is the subject of corruption and money laundering investigations in at least six countries.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that $4.5 billion were stolen from 1MDB, about $1 billion of which made its way into Najib’s personal bank accounts.
Some of the funds stolen from 1MDB were used to buy jewelry for Rosmah, including a $27 million pink diamond necklace, U.S. lawsuits say.
Police found 12,000 individual items of jewelry, 567 luxury handbags, 423 watches, and $26 million in cash at properties linked to the couple following Najib’s unexpected defeat in the 2018 election.
The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.
According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.
Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.
“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.
The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.
Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.
The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.
Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.
The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.
She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.
“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.
Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.
He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.
An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.
Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.
Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec. 1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.
He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.
Tinubu arrives Katsina to receive Buhari’s body for burial
“He Never Turned His Back on the Needy” — Tributes Pour In Ahead of Buhari’s Burial
King Mohammed VI Mourns Buhari, Praises Legacy of Nigeria’s Former Leader
Facebook, Instagram Temporarily Allow Posts on Ukraine War Calling for Violence Against Invading Russians or Putin’s Death
Nigeria, Other West African Countries Facing Worst Food Crisis in 10 Years, Aid Groups Say
New York Consulate installs machines for 10-year passport
-
Headlines3 years ago
Facebook, Instagram Temporarily Allow Posts on Ukraine War Calling for Violence Against Invading Russians or Putin’s Death
-
Headlines3 years ago
Nigeria, Other West African Countries Facing Worst Food Crisis in 10 Years, Aid Groups Say
-
Foreign3 years ago
New York Consulate installs machines for 10-year passport
-
News10 months agoZero Trust Architecture in a Remote World: Securing the New Normal
-
Entertainment3 years agoPhyna emerges winner of Big Brother Naija Season 7
-
Headlines1 year agoNigeria Customs modernisation project to check extortion of traders
-
Economy1 year agoWe generated N30.2 bn revenue in three months – Kano NCS Comptroller
-
Headlines1 year agoPhilippines’ Vice President Sara Duterte resigns from Cabinet
