KUALA LUMPUR – The High Court here on Monday drew attention during the hearing of a US$14.57 million (RM58 million) lawsuit by Global Royalty Trading SAL involving more than 40 pieces of jewellery, when Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor spontaneously interjected, saying, “Can I say something?”
The wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak made the remark while testifying as the sole defendant before Judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon.
The phrase recalled a popular line associated with her, “Can I advise you something?”, from investigations linked to the 73-year-old former Pekan MP.
While testifying, Rosmah, 75, said all reasonable steps had been taken to safeguard the jewellery, including diamond necklaces, rings, bracelets and a tiara, sent to her eight years ago.
“However, all the jewellery is no longer in my possession as it was seized by the police,” she said.
Responding to questions from lawyer Datuk David Gurupatham, representing the Lebanese company as the plaintiff, Rosmah said she often received jewellery worth millions of ringgit at the time without any documentation.
The lawyer then asked her to respond regarding jewellery worth RM67 million.
“Sorry, I’m thinking. Don’t disturb me and give me time to answer all that.
“You asked whether I received them all the time without documents, right? The answer is yes,” Rosmah said.
She admitted she could not recall the exact number of jewellery items she owned, despite reports that 12,000 items were seized by police during raids in 2018.
She said the exact number of seized items was unknown as she was not at home during the raid.
Rosmah added that authorities took all the items and later issued statements.
When pressed on the actual number of items, she appeared increasingly uneasy.
Rosmah: Can I say something?
David: That sounds familiar.
During her defence in the solar hybrid project corruption case before Judge Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan (now a Court of Appeal judge) on Dec 23, 2021, Rosmah denied that the “can I advise you something” audio recording was her voice, describing it as “nonsense”.
On May 29, 2023, Global Royalty filed the suit, alleging that Rosmah lied by claiming that 44 jewellery items sent by the company’s agent had been seized by Malaysian authorities.
The seizure was carried out under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The company claims Rosmah shifted the blame to the Malaysian government, whereas the jewellery had in fact gone missing.