KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has been warned that resisting the enforcement of RM67.5 million in damages awarded to a Lebanese jeweller is tantamount to contempt of court.
Datuk David Gurupatham, counsel for Global Royalty Trading SAL, told The Edge that he had read the response by the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and pointed out that she had failed to obtain any stay from the court.
“Any attempt to prevent the lawful execution of the High Court order or statement issued to that effect could be considered contemptuous,” the lawyer warned.
Rosmah, through her lawyers from Messrs Reza Rahim & Rajivan, said on Wednesday that she would vigorously resist Global Royalty’s bid to enforce a High Court judgement ordering her to pay the firm for the 43 missing pieces of jewellery sent to her in February 2018.
She maintained that the jeweller’s claim is unsubstantiated and without any basis in fact and law, noting that the Court of Appeal is set to hear her challenge on March 25 next year.
“The fact is, she failed to meet the terms of the conditions of the conditional stay pending appeal issued by the High Court within the 30-day period,” David countered, noting that the stay of execution and her subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal were dismissed last month.
The appellate court “explicitly said that Global Royalty could enforce the judgement… the mere fact that an appeal has been filed does not act as a stay of proceedings”, he pointed out.
“The High Court judgement in law is to be respected,” David said, stressing that his client is a lawful judgement creditor under Malaysian law.
Some investigations have been carried out to confirm her assets and the necessary paperwork will be filed shortly to enforce the High Court decision, he added.
On June 10, High Court judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon found Rosmah liable for the loss of the jewellery sent to her in 2018, and ordered her to pay Global Royalty RM67,461,027.37 within a month of the decision and granted cost of RM75,000 to be paid to the jeweller.
On Aug 12, Judicial Commissioner Marianne Antoinette Ghani ruled that Rosmah must deposit RM67.46 million into a stakeholder’s account within a month of her court order.
On Sept 23, a three-member Court of Appeal bench led by Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril dismissed Rosmah’s appeal to make the payment, as it ruled that there were no grounds that warranted the appellate bench granting an unconditional stay, which means the sum should be deposited.
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