KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor claimed trial today to 17 charges over the alleged money-laundering of funds said to belong to sovereign investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who stood in the dock before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi, pleaded not guilty to each charge under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA) and the law that replaced it, the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA), as it was read out to her.
The first 12 charges
The first 12 charges involve the deposits of millions of ringgit of funds that allegedly came from unlawful activities via 235 transactions into Rosmah's Affin Bank account between December 4, 2013 and June 8, 2017.
The first eight charges involve sums of either RM100,000 or RM200,000 deposited in single transactions between December 4, 2013 and April 8, 2014.
For these eight charges, Rosmah was charged under Section 4(1)(a) of the AMLATFA, punishable with a maximum RM5 million fine or maximum five-year jail term or both.
The four other offences of money-laundering involving deposits of money were said to have occurred between September 2014 and June 2017.
The first of these four involved the deposit of a total of RM1,604,450 into the same Affin Bank account belonging to Rosmah via eight transactions (in sums of either RM200,000 or RM300,000 except for RM4,450 on one occasion) between September 4 and December 22, 2014.
The second was over the deposit of RM3,853,300 through a whopping 127 transactions in sums ranging from RM150 to RM300,000, between January 21 and December 12, 2015.
The third was for the deposit of a total RM510,000 that was split into 87 smaller transactions with amounts ranging from RM50 to RM9,900 between January 28 and November 7, 2016.
The fourth is over the deposit of a total RM30,000 via five transactions ranging from RM100 to RM9,900 between March 29 and June 8, 2017.
These four charges were brought under Section 4(1)(a) of AMLATFPUAA, which are punishable by a maximum 15-year jail term, and a fine of at least five times the sum of the illegal funds or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
The difference between the two anti-money laundering laws used is due to the law that was in force at the time the offences were committed. The AMLATFPUAA for offences committed after September 1, 2014 carries harsher penalties.
All in all, the amount in these first 12 charges comes up to slightly over RM7 million banked into Rosmah's Affin Bank account.
The last five of the 17 charges
The remaining five charges are also for money-laundering offences by virtue of Rosmah allegedly failing to declare the same RM7,097,750 amount to the Inland Revenue Board for the five tax assessment years of 2013-2017 as required under the Income Tax Act.
These charges were also brought under Section 4(1)(a) of the AMLATFPUAA.
The 17 charges did not state the origin of the funds.
Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who is leading the prosecution, then asked the court to set bail at RM10 million with two conditions.
Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent asked for bail at RM250,000, saying his client will comply with the two conditions.
The Sessions Court judge fixed bail at RM2 million with two sureties, with RM500,000 to be paid today and the remaining to be paid by or before October 11.
Rosmah was later allowed to leave the court complex here after the first instalment of RM500,000 was posted.
