KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): Singaporean Shabnam Naraindas Daswani, a former associate and shopping partner for Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, has affirmed an affidavit in support of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and other plaintiffs’ application for a Mareva injunction to be imposed on the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
This is over the US$346 million suit 1MDB and other companies filed against Rosmah and Shabnam in June 2024.
Shabnam, who was originally named as the second defendant by 1MDB, had the suit dropped against her on April 9, and has now agreed to cooperate with the Malaysian authorities in the recovery of the valuables.
This follows that she has apparently been cleared by the Singapore authorities of any wrongdoing in her dealings with Rosmah, from which she allegedly had not benefited, and wanted to set the record straight.
In the legal document sighted by The Edge, Shabnam claims that her relationship with Rosmah began in 2003, after Rosmah visited her shop at Scotts Shopping Centre in Singapore, and from there, their relationship grew, with Shabnam visiting Rosmah at her Taman Duta home, and this translated into dealings with Rosmah from 2009 to 2014.
“Datin (Rosmah) was already interested in jewellery before we met. I recall that Datin would always look at jewellery in Singapore and Hong Kong in the early years when I first accompanied her on her overseas trips.
“I first joined Datin on one of her overseas trips in 2004 or 2005. Datin was going to Hong Kong and asked me to join her as I said I was familiar with the place. I went to Hong Kong with Datin and accompanied her on her shopping trips to night markets and shopping malls. I remember that pre-2009, many prominent people often accompanied her entourage and her during Datin’s trips to Hong Kong,” Shabnam says.
Rosmah last met Shabnam in 2023, following her visit to the island republic when visiting her daughter, Nooryana Najwa Najib.
The legal document was filed on Friday by Messrs Lim Chee Wee Partnership, who are the solicitors for 1MDB and the other plaintiffs in this case.
July 31 has been set for the hearing of the Mareva application, and 1MDB has filed a notice of urgency for Shabnam’s affidavit to be admitted as further evidence.
Tasked with looking for Rosmah’s clothing, shoes, and fabric
The Singaporean says her job was to look for Rosmah’s clothing, shoes, and fabric.
“She would choose the clothes, and I would measure each one with a tape measure to make sure the size fits. I would even go to some stores in advance to choose the garments beforehand as I knew her taste. However, I was hardly able to join Datin on such long-distance trips when I was diagnosed with cancer in 2010.
“I became involved in this because of my passion for designing and embroidery work, and to further my clothing business. I had the impression that I was listening to a voice of authority since she was the wife of a minister (and later the then-prime minister of Malaysia) and had also met the prime minister of my country, Singapore. This was the nature of our relationship,” Shabnam explains of her special ties with Rosmah.
Shabnam explains that she got to know fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and his associate Eric Tan Kim Loong soon after, and as they seemed to be rich, she thought they were “family bankers of Datin and her husband”.
“They would facilitate the settlement of payments for Datin’s selections of her luxury items. This was the system of making payments that was already set in place. In fact, many vendors were liaising directly with Jho Low before I started accompanying Datin on her trips. I thought and assumed this was normal.”
Shabnam explains that she gradually became involved in liaising with vendors and Tan to arrange payments.
Prior to this, 1MDB had alleged that Jho Low and Tan were the ‘front’ to make payments for the luxury items, including handbags for Rosmah.
“I became involved with liaising with the vendors of the luxury items as I used to shop with Datin and was familiar with her tastes. Further, as I was always around in her home to make her clothes, [so] it was convenient for Datin to inform me of her selections of luxury items, so that I could pass the invoices to Tan for him to arrange payment.
“Datin also wanted me to liaise with the store vendors. Those in Datin’s circle who accompanied her to buy luxury items were not as familiar with liaising with vendors, so the task fell on me,” she claims further.
The modus operandi
Shabnam clarifies that she was not familiar with Tan, and the usual practice was that she would have to liaise with Jho Low on the purchases, and he in turn would liaise with Tan to handle payments for the luxury items.
In explaining how the items were procured and paid for, Shabnam claims that Rosmah would first pick the items based on her taste after bargaining with the vendors, where besides going overseas, the vendors would showcase the items at her Taman Duta home.
The vendors, Shabnam adds, would get in touch with Shabnam either in person, or by email or phone, to confirm the items purchased and the price, and Datin would confirm the price payable after further bargaining.
“I would sometimes be present for this. I would liaise with Tan via email or other means, and he would provide me with the name and details of the entity that would be purchasing the items on Datin’s behalf. I would then pass the details of the purchasing entity to the vendor so an invoice would be produced,” she says.
“I would send Tan the vendor’s invoice, so he could process payment. In the event that vendors chased for payment, I would relay the chasers to Tan. In later years, Tan issued more specific instructions on the information that should be set out in the vendors’ invoices. I relayed that information to the vendors,” Shabnam explains.
The Singaporean claims that at times, the jewellers would visit Rosmah in Kuala Lumpur and deal with her on a trust basis, where Rosmah would keep the items and payment would be made later.
“However, there were some exceptions, including Rose Trading and Louis Glick, where upfront payment was required before Datin’s receipt of the items,” Shabnam says.
Accompanying trips in 2010 and 2013
Shabnam says that she accompanied Rosmah on her overseas trips to New York in 2010 and 2013, where they visited Jacob & Co, and after selecting the items, the invoices were issued and addressed directly to one of Rosmah’s aides.
She also describes that Rosmah knew many jewellers, like Bejewelled and Beauty Gems, before the acquaintanceship, as Shabnam only had to introduce RCM and Verdi to Rosmah.
“Datin’s favourite jewellers included Rose Trading, Prima Gold, Lunadiam, Imperial Gems, Firestone, and Beauty Gems,” she says, adding that many other jewellers such as Prima Gems, Al Mahaba, A Arslanian LLC, RCM, and Lombok NTB Pearls were all regulars at Taman Duta.
“Datin used to arrange for a member from her staff to pick the vendors from the airport and escort them to [Taman] Duta. There were times when a few jewellers would be waiting in different parts of her residence at [Taman] Duta. Datin’s shopping all seemed pretty normal, since her staff would be around,” Shabnam alleges.
The said jewellers are also among the 48 named vendors in 1MDB’s statement of claim.
Shabnam also says in the legal document that the purchase of luxurious Birkin bags were brought to a hotel for Rosmah to peruse.
“Datin picked the bags that she liked and negotiated the price. I assisted her with the price negotiations and with picking the bags, although Datin ultimately had the final say on which bags she wanted. Once Datin decided on the bags she wanted, Datin took the bags she wanted on the spot, leaving me to separately liaise with the vendor and Tan on the invoicing and payment,” she elaborates on the purchase of luxury handbags.
'Don't know source of funds, assumed it was Najib’s inheritance'
Shabnam says she did not know the source of Rosmah’s funds used for the payments and she was not involved in the banking transactions.
“Monies were transferred to vendors from banks, so I assumed that it was paid. At the time, I believed that Datin’s family had a huge source of personal wealth, since Datin’s father-in-law was a former prime minister of Malaysia, and her son (Riza Aziz) is in the entertainment industry and deals with Hollywood movie stars.
“Datin’s family have homes in London and New York. I even visited the home in New York before and was blown away by the sheer grandeur of the home. I expected that Datin and Datuk Seri (Najib) would abide by the laws of their own country since they were respected by their people.
“I also had the impression that Datin’s family was connected with the rich Arabs in the oil industry and Arab royalty, as Jho Low often name-dropped VIPs from the Arab world. Datin’s daughter, Gina (Nooryana Najwa), also married into a wealthy Kazakh family who was related to the ex-president of Kazakhstan,” she explains over the misconception over Rosmah’s wealth.
In replying to Rosmah’s denial of the valuables, Shabnam asserts most of it to be inaccurate and bare denials as she was involved in communication with the vendors and Tan on the payments for these items.
She also produced copies of the invoices, the receipts, pictures of the jewellery and emails to support her claim.
She says she did not keep these items, and did not receive money from Rosmah, Jho Low or Tan.
On the issue that some of the items seized in the Pavilion raid were supposedly gifts, Shabnam alleges that Rosmah's stand was inconsistent with her position in the OBYU forfeiture proceedings as she first described them as gifts and later claimed not to have knowledge of the luxury goods.
Treasury secretary general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican, who is also the current 1MDB chairman, produced Shabnam’s affidavit in support of the Mareva injunction application that was filed on June 10, 2024, which will be heard on July 31 before judge Wan Muhammad Amin Wan Yahya.
When contacted by The Edge for comment on Friday afternoon, Rosmah's counsel Datuk Seri Rajan Navaratnam said they had just been served 1MDB’s application for leave to adduce a further affidavit.
"This application has yet to be heard and for the court to determine whether the said affidavit can be allowed. We will know more after the court fixes a case management date for this case," added Rajan.