Rosmah Mansor

Rosmah binti Mansor (Jawi: روسمه بنت منصور; born 10 December 1951) is the second wife of former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak.

Like her husband, she was implicated in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB).

On 1 September 2022, she was found guilty of corruption in relation to a school electricity project, fined $303m and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.

Rosmah received her secondary education at Kolej Tunku Kurshiah, Negeri Sembilan.

Rosmah was formerly married to Abdul Aziz Nong Chik.

They have two children, Riza Aziz and Azrene Soraya.

In 1987, she married Najib Razak and they have two children, Nooryana Najwa and Mohd Norashman, and have amassed a huge amount of wealth, which Rosmah claimed to have saved since childhood.

Rosmah and her husband's lavish lifestyle and extravagant purchases while Najib Razak was in power caused anger among the citizens in Malaysia.

Following her husband's loss in the Malaysian 14th general election, the couple were under investigation into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, in which over USD$7.5 billion went missing from the fund.

On 12 May 2018, three days after her husband and then incumbent prime minister lost the general election, a flight manifest named Najib and Rosmah as passengers of a private jet scheduled to leave from an airport near Kuala Lumpur for Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in Jakarta.

In response, the Immigration Department, upon the orders of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, imposed a travel ban on Rosmah and her husband, barring their exit from the country.

Since 16 May 2018, the Malaysian police have searched six properties linked to Rosmah and Najib as part of the investigation into the 1MDB scandal.

Malaysian police seized 284 boxes filled with designer handbags, 72 large luggage bags containing cash in multiple currencies, and other valuables.

The Malaysian police commissioner confirmed that the police seized goods with an estimated value of between US$223 and US$273 million.

The police described it as the biggest seizure in Malaysian history.

A breakdown of the items seized included:

Rosmah had been summoned three times by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to assist an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of money banked into her husband's account tied to the 1MDB scandal.

The first was on 5 June 2018, where she was questioned for 5 hours; the second on 26 September 2018 for 13 hours; and the third was on 3 October 2018, which led to her arrest on the same day.

On 4 October 2018, Rosmah pleaded not guilty to 17 charges of money laundering involving about MYR7mil at the Sessions Court under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism and Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.

The court set MYR2 million bail and ordered that she surrender her passport and not to approach any of the witnesses.

On 26 June 2018, Global Royalty Trading SAL, a jewellery firm based in Lebanon, filed a suit against Rosmah over a jewellery consignment.

It alleged that the jewellery delivered to Rosmah on 10 February 2018 were for her to evaluate and thereafter purchase those she selected, and to return the remaining.

On 22 May 2018, Rosmah had acknowledged receipt of the jewellery but in her statement claims that the items were no longer with her as they had been seized by the authorities.

Global Royalty said if the items were unrecoverable in full or in part, Rosmah would be held liable to pay the full cost.

Since the jewellery were confiscated as part of 1MDB investigation, the Malaysian government intervened in the lawsuit by a Lebanese jeweller against her.

The case began hearing on 27 July 2018.

In its statement of claim, Global Royalty Trading SAL alleged that Rosmah was a long-standing customer and that it would send consignments of jewellery to her on her demand.

The news created more resentment by Malaysians questioning how the wife of ex-Malaysian Prime Minister could afford to buy even one of the cheapest items on the list.

Then-Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the delivery by Global Royalty Trading SAL of 44 pieces of jewellery linked to Rosmah Mansor were not declared to the Customs Department, as they should have been for any import of valuable goods into Malaysia.

Undeclared imports were not permitted, and as a result, the jewellery could be seized.

On 25 May 2022, the High Court was told that Lebanese jewellery company Global Royalty Trading SAL and Rosmah were staking claim on a US$220,000 white gold diamond bracelet which was then stored in Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) vaults.

Adi Hasan AlFardan Jewellery, another high-end jeweller, requested the Malaysian police to return over US$5mil (MYR20.69mil) worth of seized jewellery which was delivered to Rosmah in March 2018.

According to the Dubai-based company, the jewellery were handed to Rosmah but the payment had not been made.

Adi AlFardan was also reported to be escorted by officers from the Prime Minister office to bypass Malaysian Customs and Immigration checks during his four visits to deliver the jewellery to Rosmah.

According to the law firm hired by Adi Hasan AlFardan Jewellery, they waited for further instruction from their client before considering taking legal proceedings against Rosmah.

In 2019, Rosmah was charged with corruption in relation to a project to provide solar hybrid power for rural schools in Sarawak.

On 18 February 2021, Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ruled that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against Rosmah on all three charges of soliciting and receiving bribes and ordered Rosmah to enter her defence.

On 23 December 2021, the High Court disallowed the prosecution's move to impeach Rosmah over contradictions between her evidence in her current corruption trial and her statement as recorded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) during a money laundering investigation.

Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said Rosmah had attempted to explain the differences in court.

On 4 February 2022, Rosmah's bribery and corruption trial were further deferred as the final witness was unable to attend the court proceedings.