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KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court heard today that Rizal Mansor left a police escort at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya because he did not want him (escort) to know that he was handing over RM5 million to Rosmah Mansor in Seri Perdana.
“I wanted to protect my boss (Rosmah) regarding money. I didn’t want the escort to know who I was sending the cash to, ”said the former assistant to the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak when questioned by lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kadir.
Rizal said his friend Ahmed Farriq Zainul Abidin, who was also in his car, advised him to drop off the policeman, identified as Evo, before they finally reached Seri Perdana, the prime minister’s official residence.
“Farriq whispered to me on the way to Putrajaya that it was ‘dangerous’ to have a policeman in the car as we intended to deliver two bags of cash to Rosmah,” he said.
Rizal said they dropped Evo at the prime minister’s office and continued the trip to Seri Perdana, which was a five-minute drive away.
Akberdin claimed that Rizal did not want the policeman to accompany him to Seri Perdana to hide his intention to pocket the money.
Rizal vehemently and repeatedly denied Akberdin’s accusation during questioning.
Rizal said that a day earlier (August 19, 2016) he arranged for the policeman to accompany then-Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin, who was to withdraw RM5 million from a bank here.
Saidi had requested an escort to deliver the money to lawyer Lawrence Tee at the Kuala Lumpur Pavilion, as he was afraid to carry so much cash.
Rizal said he went to the Pavilion with Farriq to monitor the situation.
Rizal said he saw Saidi lower two bags with the help of his driver and the escort.
He said that a few minutes later, Saidi called him on the mobile phone, informing him that Tee had refused to accept the money.
Rizal said he went to Tee’s office and was told the attorney did not have the “courage” to receive the cash.
Rizal said that he then called Rosmah to narrate what had happened and she instructed him to give the money to Seri Perdana since she was there.
The money was loaded into Rizal’s car, with his driver at the wheel. He was also accompanied by Farriq and Evo.
Rizal said it was during the 40-minute drive from Pavilion to Putrajaya that Fariq suggested they drop Evo off at the prime minister’s office before heading to Seri Perdana.
The witness said that police escorts later escorted his car to Seri Perdana.
Rizal 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.
Reexamined by ad-hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram, Rizal said that Umno or Barisan Nasional did not send any receipts or letters of thanks to Jepak, Saidi or Saidi’s partner Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah in appreciation for the “political donation.”
Rizal also said that 90% of his work time was devoted to Rosmah, although he was appointed as Najib’s special duty officer.
Rosmah is charged with three counts of corruption for requesting RM187.5 million from Saidi as an incentive to help the company secure the project through direct negotiations with the Ministry of Education.
She is also accused of receiving bribes worth RM6.5 million from Saidi between 2016 and 2017.
The hearing before Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan was postponed until October 5.
