Malaysia drops appeal against acquittal of former PM Najib’s wife Rosmah over 17 money laundering, tax evasion charges

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on Thursday (Dec 11) dropped its appeal against the acquittal of Rosmah Mansor - who is the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak - over 17 money laundering and tax evasion charges. 

In its statement, the AGC said that the decision was reached as there was “no reasonable prospect of success” with key witnesses either deceased or untraceable, reported local news outlet the New Straits Times (NST). 

“Among the factors considered was that the prosecution would be unable to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt as key witnesses have died or can no longer be traced,” the statement read.

“In such circumstances, the predicate offence against the accused also cannot be proven.” 

Rosmah, 74, was charged in 2018 with 12 charges of money laundering involving RM7.09 million (US$1.73 million) and five charges of failing to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board.

On Dec 19 last year, High Court Judge K Muniandy acquitted her of all 17 charges, ruling that the prosecution had failed to present the key elements of the offence of money laundering in the charges. 

The AGC said that it had initially filed the appeal on Dec 20 against the High Court’s decision. However, after reviewing the court’s written grounds of the judgement on Oct 30 this year, it decided not to proceed with the appeal. 

“All key aspects of the case, including issues of fact and law, were reviewed before the decision not to proceed with the appeal was made,” said the AGC, as quoted by NST.

The AGC said that it had filed a notice of discontinuance on Dec 9, which is the court document required for it to drop the appeal. 

According to a letter from the Deputy Registrar of the Court of Appeal, the case management set for Dec 22 has been vacated and the appeal is dismissed. 

Rosmah’s lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad has also confirmed the matter and said that Judge Muniandy’s decision last year to acquit his client was appropriate and fair. 

“We are relieved that she has been completely freed from all the charges. This entire process has been a tough test for her and we are pleased to see that justice has finally been served and the case has been closed,” he said, as quoted by Bernama. 

Rosmah pleaded not guilty on Oct 4, 2018 at the Sessions Court to the 17 charges, purportedly committed between Dec 4, 2013 and Jun 8, 2017. The case was then transferred to the High Court. 

Her trial over the charges commenced on Aug 24, 2023 but came to a halt after she filed a striking-out application on Sep 6, 2023. 

Separately, Rosmah is still appealing her conviction in a corruption case related to the solar hybrid project for rural schools in Sarawak. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail and given a RM970 million fine by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in relation to three separate charges. 

On Sep 1, 2022, she was found guilty of soliciting RM187.5 million in bribes from contractor Saidi Abang Samsudin in 2016 and 2017 so that his company Jepak Holdings could secure a RM1.25 billion government project to supply solar energy to 369 rural schools in the Sarawak state.

She was also accused of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Saidi at the prime minister’s official residence and then later at her private residence in Kuala Lumpur between December 2016 and September 2017.

The date of the hearing at the Court of Appeal for the corruption case has yet to be fixed, according to local media.  

Rosmah is also pursuing her bid to recuse or disqualify the trial judge who had found her guilty in 2022 in the corruption case.