Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of jailed former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was today found guilty of three counts of corruption related to a RM1.25 billion solar energy project for rural schools in Sarawak.
Rosmah, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined RM970 million, joins the ranks of other former first ladies, including those from El Salvador, Honduras, and the Philippines, who were found guilty of corruption in recent years.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling comes following the trial, which lasted 42 days, with the prosecution calling 23 witnesses, while the defence relied only on two, including Rosmah.
The 70-year-old mother of four was charged in November 2018 with soliciting RM187.5 million and receiving RM1.5 million for the project to provide electricity to 369 rural schools in Sarawak.
During mitigation, Rosmah maintained her innocence, claiming she was a “victim” and had never solicited any money.
Her lawyer, Jagjit Singh, also said his client had contributed to the country through many children’s programmes, including the Pusat Anak Permata Negara (Permata) initiative. The defence also pleaded for the court to mete out a one-day jail term for their client.
High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan later sentenced Rosmah to 10 years jail for each charge and ordered the prison terms to run concurrently from the date of judgment. He also ordered her to pay a fine of RM970 million for all charges.
The judge, however, allowed a stay of execution and a suspension of the fine pending appeal, following an application by the defence.
Earlier, Mohamed Zaini dismissed an application by the defence for him to recuse himself from presiding over the case after a purported draft judgment was published by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, last week. Jagjit, however, informed the court that the defence would appeal the matter.
In June 2021, Ligia de Saca, the wife of former El Salvador president Tony Saca, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for money laundering. She was also ordered to repay US$17.6 million to the government.
Tony was sentenced to a 10-year jail term for corruption in 2018 and was ordered to return US$260 million to the state after he pleaded guilty to diverting more than US$300 million in government funds to benefit his businesses and third parties.
Tony, who served as president from 2004 to 2009, was the first El Salvadorian ex-president found guilty of corruption.
In September 2019, former Honduras first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla was sentenced to 58 years in prison for embezzling more than US$1 million of government funds between 2010 and 2014, when her husband Porfirio Lobo was president.
However, the Supreme Court of Justice overturned her conviction six months later, citing procedural problems and ordered a fresh trial. A second trial resulted in a conviction in March 2020.
In November 2018, a Philippines anti-graft court convicted Imelda Marcos, widow of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, of seven counts of graft.
Imelda was sentenced to a minimum of 42 years in prison. She had been found guilty of creating private foundations in Switzerland between 1978 and 1984 that allowed her family to funnel illegally amassed government funds during the martial law period.
Imelda has not been sent to prison as her case is pending appeal.
Separately, in 2020, Lesotho’s former first lady Maesiah Thabane, was charged with murder following alleged links to the 2017 killing of the prime minister’s previous wife, Lipolelo Thabane.
Her husband, ex-prime minister Thomas Thabane was also charged with the murder after he was accused of hiring hitmen to kill his first wife. However, last month, charges against the duo were dropped on grounds that investigators were unable to trace an important witness related to the matter.
