The wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for seeking and receiving bribes in exchange for government contracts, just days after her husband was imprisoned for corruption.
Rosmah Mansor, 70, had entered a not guilty plea to the three charges of soliciting and accepting bribes between 2016 and 2017 in order to assist a business in obtaining a $279 million solar power supply project from Najib’s administration
Since Najib’s surprise election defeat in 2018, when voters were outraged by a separate multibillion-dollar corruption scandal, the couple has been the subject of “multiple graft investigations.”
Rosmah was widely scorned in Malaysia for her extravagant lifestyle.
Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan of the Kuala Lumpur High Court stated that Rosmah will also be required to pay a 970 million ringgit ($216.45 million) fine for three counts of bribery, which is a record fine in Malaysian history. He also stated that the prosecution’s case was established beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecutors say Rosmah sought a bribe of 187.5 million ringgit ($41.80 million), and received 6.5 million ringgit from an official of the company that won the project.
Rosmah has claimed that she was set up by her former assistant and a number of government and business representatives involved in the project.
In a separate case, she is also accused of committing 17 counts of tax evasion and money laundering.
According to Rosmah’s attorney Jagjit Singh, she was shocked by the decision.
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