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KUALA LUMPUR: A bogus “consulting” agreement was crafted and has now disappeared to mask the payment of bribes from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Shamsuddin to Rosmah Mansor, prosecutors said.
The prosecution, led by ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram, said the purpose was obvious: to find a method to “regularize” the payment that the defendants wanted to receive.
“The object was to prepare an agreement to hide the true nature of Saidi’s payment from the accused. The euphemism ‘consulting’ was used to mask the payment of bribes, ”he said in his brief filed in Superior Court on Tuesday, spotted by FMT.
Deputy Prosecutors Idham Abdul Ghani, Ahmad Akram Gharib, Mohamed Mustafa Kunyalam and Poh Yin Tinn assisted Sri Ram at the trial and in preparing the presentation.
The prosecution said that if the payment was a genuine political donation to Rosmah’s husband, then Prime Minister Najib Razak, there was no need to mask it under a consulting agreement.
He said Jepak Holdings was interested in obtaining a contract from the Ministry of Education to provide solar hybrid power to schools in Sarawak, but his then minister, Mahdzir Khalid, did not support it.
Saidi and his then business partner, Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah, approached Rosmah’s assistant at the time, Rizal Mansor, to secure their help in obtaining the contract.
The prosecution said that at a meeting organized by Rizal in 2016, Saidi suggested to Rosmah that he would make a donation of 10% of the contract value to Najib in appreciation for his work.
Rosmah, he claimed, later said that a lot of money was needed for political purposes and instructed Rizal to bring Saidi and Rayyan to meet businessman Desmond Lim.
“This was a sign that the defendant had accepted the offer,” he said.
The prosecution said the fictitious settlement was prepared by attorney Lawrence Tee Kien Moon, who was referred by Lim.
“That agreement has since disappeared, but the prosecution maintains that Lawrence is a truthful witness and, despite the allegations of unethical conduct that have been leveled at him, his credibility remains unshakeable.
“He is a disinterested witness. He only entered the scene because the defendant sent Saidi, Rayyan and Rizal to meet with Desmond Lim. Their evidence has a purely corroborative value, ”he said.
Rosmah is accused of requesting RM187.5 million from Saidi through Rizal as an incentive to help Jepak Holdings secure the solar project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak, at a cost of RM1.25 billion, through negotiation. directly with the Ministry of Education.
She is also charged with two counts of receiving bribes worth RM6.5 million: RM5 million from Saidi through Rizal at Seri Perdana in Putrajaya on December 20, 2016, and RM1.5 million from Saidi at her private residence in Langgak Duta. here in september. 7, 2017
The prosecution said Rosmah had requested a bribe because after Saidi and Rayyan left their private residence, the defendant told Rizal to increase the donation from 10% to 15%.
“It can be added that the case of the defense is that the money was a political donation is irrelevant because, by definition, a donation is gratification,” he said.
He said that Saidi raised RM1.5 million in a bank and the money was packaged in two bags and placed in his vehicle. Its driver, Shamsul Rizal Sharbini, drove the vehicle to Rosmah’s private residence in Langgak Duta.
“Rayyan’s photographs and video confirm the presence of the bags. Saidi informed Rosmah that he had brought RM1.5 million before they both left after a short meeting, ”he said.
He said that Rizal, who was in an adjacent living room, overheard Rosmah instructing his butler to bring the bags to his room.
The prosecution alleged that the bribe request and the payment of the first and second tranche “were part of the same transaction.”
“Consequently, the direct evidence of the receipt of RM1.5 million is relevant to the delivery and receipt of the (previous) RM5 million,” he added.
