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KUALA LUMPUR: Rizal Mansor, a former assistant to Rosmah Mansor, who testified for the prosecution in his corruption trial, is a credible witness, the prosecution said.
He also said that the testimony of several other witnesses should be accepted to prove that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The prosecution, led by ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram, said that Rizal was actually “a witness with no purpose to serve” as he was acquitted of the charges against him.
“It would have been very different if the prosecution had obtained an exoneration that did not amount to an acquittal against him,” he said in a brief filed in Superior Court on Tuesday, sighted by FMT.
(When a conditional acquittal is granted, the prosecution can later prosecute you for the same charges.)
The prosecution said that, therefore, Rizal’s evidence should be treated on a higher plane than an accomplice.
On January 8, Rizal was released from four counts of corruption for a Sarawak solar project. He was previously indicted jointly with Rosmah.
Rosmah is accused of requesting RM187.5 million from Jepak Holdings to then-managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through Rizal, as an incentive to help the company secure the solar project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak, at a cost of RM1, 25 billion, through direct negotiation 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 of 2017.
The prosecution said Rizal did not have a strong motive to downplay his own involvement in the criminal transaction.
“As such, his evidence, while it should be treated with caution, has a tone of truth, as he has not tried to downplay his role in the transaction,” he said.
He said Rizal frankly accepted that he had received money from Saidi and his then-business partner, Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah.
“He may be a person of bad character, but that is no reason to reject his testimony.”
Rizal’s evidence that Rosmah received RM5 million was corroborated by other witnesses, the prosecution said.
He said Maybank chief cashier Azimah Aziz confirmed that Saidi withdrew the cash on December 20, 2016.
Rizal’s confidant, Ahmed Farriq Zainul Abidin, also confirmed that Rizal delivered two bags containing the cash to Seri Perdana.
Rizal had said that upon arriving at the prime minister’s official residence, two butlers came to collect the bags and he went to meet Rosmah. He said Rosmah did not open the bags, but asked the butlers to take them to his room.
The prosecution said the RM5 million was paid shortly after the ministry issued the award letter to Jepak Holdings, and the remaining RM 1.5 million was paid after the ministry delivered a series of progressive payments, for a total of approximately RM 63 million, to the company.
“The payments support the application fee. It is an irresistible inference that Saidi would not have made these payments unless there had been a demand for bribery, ”he said.
Furthermore, he said, it was not in “the ordinary course of human nature” for a contractor seeking a government contract to make unsolicited payments to the wife of a sitting prime minister.
The prosecution said it was also a blatant lie by Rosmah in her statement to investigators that she never met Saidi and Rayyan, a fact that was refuted by the two men and Rizal.
He said Rosmah’s corrupt intent was revealed when he urged the then ministry’s general secretaries, Madinah Mohamed and Alias Ahmad, to speed up the project’s approval and asked for a donation based on a percentage rather than a lump sum.
He said the evidence from attorney Lawrence Tee Kien Moon, who prepared a “consulting” agreement, and that of then-education minister Mahdzir Khalid, Saidi’s driver, Shamsul Rizal Sharbini, Ahmed Farriq, Madinah, Alias, Saidi and Rayyan were credible and should be accepted. .
Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan set February 10 to seek clarification from the defense and the prosecution before deciding whether Rosmah is entitled to an acquittal or whether she will be called to come to her defense.
