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KUALA LUMPUR: Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, will hear on Thursday (Sep 1) whether a court has found her guilty of seeking bribes from firms coveting government contracts, just days after her husband was jailed for corruption.
Najib and his wife, who has faced criticism for her lavish lifestyle, are at the centre of a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption mounted after his administration was voted out in a historic 2018 election.
Last week, Najib began serving a 12-year jail sentence after Malaysia’s top court upheld his conviction in a case linked to a multibillion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He remains on trial in four other corruption cases.
Rosmah, 70, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes between 2016 and 2017 to help a company secure a US$279 million solar power supply project from the government when her husband was in power.
Prosecutors say Rosmah sought a bribe of RM187.5 million (US$41.80 million), and received RM6.5 million from an official of the company that won the project.
The charges carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of at least five times the amount, though Rosmah could seek a stay on sentencing by the Kuala Lumpur High Court pending appeals to higher courts.
Rosmah has argued that she was framed by her former aide as well as several government and company officials involved in the project.
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