KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — The personal assistant to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has rubbished a report alleging that billionaire businessman Low Taek Jho finances the shopping sprees of the prime minister’s wife.
Datuk Rizal Mansor said a recent article on whistleblower site Sarawak Report claiming that Low was funding most of Rosmah’s spending by banking in cash into the account of a Singapore-based designer by the name of Natasha Mirpuri, was baseless and malicious.
“It’s rubbish,” Rizal told Malay Mail Online yesterday when asked about the matter.
“The report is a lie and malicious,” he added.
Rizal, however, confirmed that Mirpuri is among one of Rosmah’s favourite clothing “designers”, but said everything else about the allegations were untrue.
Earlier this week, Sarawak Report, the whistleblower site that has published a series of exposes damning Low and the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, claimed in its report that Mirpuri was Rosmah’s “shopping guru” and that she has helped the “first lady” to “procure multi-million dollar purchases of jewellery and luxury goods”.
According to the website, Mirpuri runs a company called Khazanah Creations and used to run a boutique named Mantra based at the Raffles Hotel complex in Singapore, but her key client has been Rosmah.
The report said that while Rosmah would typically prefer to shop from designer outlets abroad, local upmarket designers like Mirpuri would provide personal shopping at the former’s home “in KL”.
It further quoted insiders as saying that up to three top jewellers a day have been known to visit Rosmah personally with their wares, and that since such sales are usually valued at US$3 million (RM10.5 million) and upwards, traders deem the trips worthwhile.
Commenting on this, Rizal said the claims were outrageous.
“If the report is right, that she purchases diamonds on a daily basis, Datin Seri can open a diamond shop already.
“In fact in a month, not only can she open a diamond shop, but a diamond mall”.
Sarawak Report also claimed reliable insiders had informed them that Low had also helped financed Rosmah and Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s daughter’s wedding through Mirpuri.
“This connection between Rosmah and Natasha Mirpuri and now the further financial connection between Mirpuri and Jho Low has been confirmed to Sarawak Report by witnesses, providing separate accounts of her shopping from different locations,” it said.
Previously, Rizal, when defending Rosmah against suspicion of how the prime minister and his wife could have afforded such a grand wedding, had said the event was funded by the groom’s family.
When asked if Sarawak Report had contacted him to verify the information, Rizal said no such attempt was made.
“They are unethical. What do you expect,” he said.
