KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 24): The High Court has ordered Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's second criminal trial concerning a RM7.1 million money laundering and tax evasion case to proceed, pending the decision on her letter of representation.
Judge K Muniandy made his ruling on Thursday (Aug 24) after listening to the defence and prosecution, who both sought an adjournment of the case pending the letter of representation.
The High Court judge said the case was pending since 2018, and to be fair to the accused and the court, it ought to go on as scheduled.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib informed the court that a few investigations needed to be carried out to verify the facts in the letter of representation sent on May 3.
He also added that Rosmah's counsels had sent a further letter of representation on Aug 18 which "raised new grounds" that also needed investigations and verifications.
Akram further added that some of the names mentioned in the letters were people who were not in the country and the prosecution needed two to three months to fully investigate the matter.
"Based on these circumstance, I humbly seek indulgence to allow us more time to [complete our] investigations on the new grounds raised...
"The [issues raised in the] letters [would] bring this case in a huge direction if we start the trial, it is a stand we are taking and [it] won't be fair to the accused person," he said.
He added that if the grounds raised in the letter of representation were correct, it would take the case in a "whole new direction", and the prosecution would need to take direction from the attorney general.
Lead defence counsel Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent told the court that the defence appreciated that the prosecution was not rushing to reject the letter of representation.
He said the issues raised in the matter were at the core of the defence and the charges. He added that there have been some changes since 2018, when the case first began, and that needed verification.
Geethan said this case was not pending due to unnecessary delays but rather was pushed back due to Rosmah's first criminal trial — the solar trial — and also delays due to the Covid pandemic.
The High Court judge, however, was reluctant and continued to remind parties that the case has been pending for years.
The trial then proceeded for the day with all 17 charges read to Rosmah.
Following that, Akram read the opening statement.
However, just after that, Rosmah's other counsel, Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, said it was the defence's understanding that the AG would be considering matters in the letter of representation, but in lieu of the development on Thursday morning, the defence would now be filing an application to strike out the charges and asked for an adjournment.
However, the judge asked for the matter to continue with the prosecution's first witness and stated that the defence can reserve its cross-examination.
In this trial, Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, faces 17 charges involving RM7.1 million transferred into her personal bank account between 2013 and 2017.
The charges were framed under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
On the first eight counts, she is charged with money laundering by directly engaging in a transaction involving proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to RM1.1 million that were deposited into her account.
On the ninth to 12th counts, she is charged with directly engaging in 227 transactions involving proceeds of unlawful activities totalling RM6 million, which were also deposited into her account.
On the 13th to 17th counts, she is charged with engaging in money laundering by failing to file a return on the sum that was deposited into her account as required under the Income Tax Act 1967.
This is Rosmah's second criminal trial. In September last year, the High Court found Rosmah guilty of all three counts of graft relating to a solar hybrid graft project for 369 schools in rural Sarawak. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined RM970 million.
A stay was granted, pending the disposal of her appeal.
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Rosmah seeks to have all charges in money laundering, tax evasion trial dropped
Rosmah's second criminal trial to begin on May 12