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Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak, pleaded not guilty yesterday to one count each of soliciting and accepting bribes over a solar hybrid project for rural schools in Sarawak.
According to the charge sheets, Rosmah allegedly committed the offences between March 2016 and September last year.
In the first charge, Rosmah, 67, is accused of soliciting RM187.5 million (S$61.6 million) in bribes – which is 15 per cent of the project’s value – from Jepak Holdings managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin between March and April 2016.
It was allegedly to assist the company to secure a RM1.25 billion contract through direct negotiation with the Education Ministry.
In the second charge, Rosmah is accused of accepting RM1.5 million from Mr Saidi on Sept 7 last year.
Judge Azman Ahmad set bail at RM1 million with one surety.
Meanwhile, Rosmah’s former aide Rizal Mansor also pleaded not guilty to four charges of graft involving RM218 million over the same project. The 44-year-old is accused of soliciting RM187.5 million and receiving RM5 million for Rosmah.
He also allegedly solicited RM25 million and received RM500,000.
Jepak Holdings, a transportation services company, was appointed at the end of 2016 to supply diesel, repair generators and provide solar hybrid systems for 369 schools.
The case was the second time that Rosmah had been hauled to court. On Oct 4, she was charged with 17 counts of money laundering involving more than RM7 million.
In a separate courtroom, former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor faced two graft charges of accepting RM3 million in bribes from two property developers over land deals linked to Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
The Putrajaya MP allegedly committed the offences between Dec 27, 2013, and June 14, 2016.
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