Rosmah warns jewellery firm it will hit a wall if it comes knocking for RM67.5m

 

Global Royalty Trading SAL may be ready to pursue RM67.5 million from Rosmah Mansor over 43 missing pieces of jewellery, but the Lebanon-based firm has been warned that it would run into a brick wall.

The wife of former premier Najib Abdul Razak has made it clear that any attempt to enforce a High Court judgment ordering her to pay will be met with vigorous resistance.

In a statement today, her lawyers, Messrs Reza Rahim & Rajivan, said Rosmah had instructed them to make clear that any move to enforce or execute the judgment “shall be resisted vigorously by our client”.

“Our client has consistently maintained that the claim by Global Royalty against her is unsubstantiated and therefore without any basis in fact and/or in law,” they said.

They added that Rosmah had appealed against the ruling, with the matter scheduled to be heard by the Court of Appeal on March 25, 2027.

With the appeal still pending, her lawyers argued that any attempt to enforce the judgment now would be premature.

Bankruptcy proceedings an option

But Global Royalty appears ready to test that position.

Yesterday, the company’s lawyer, David Gurupatham, told the New Straits Times that his client would move to enforce the ruling.

Asked whether bankruptcy proceedings could follow if Rosmah continued to withhold payment, Gurupatham replied, “Yes.”

On June 10, High Court judge Quay Chew Soon found Rosmah liable for failing to return 43 pieces of jewellery entrusted to her on a consignment basis and ordered her to pay RM67.5 million.

On Aug 12, judicial commissioner Marianne Antoinette Ghani granted Rosmah a conditional stay pending the disposal of her appeal.

The condition was that she deposit the full judgment sum into a joint stakeholders’ account held by solicitors for both parties within one month.

Rosmah then applied to the Court of Appeal for an unconditional stay, but the application was dismissed on Sept 23.

The appellate court also ordered her to pay RM30,000 in costs and ruled that Global Royalty was at liberty to take steps to enforce the judgment.

According to Gurupatham, Rosmah has yet to deposit the RM67.5 million.

The dispute centres on 44 pieces of jewellery, including diamond necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, and a tiara, which Global Royalty said it sent to Rosmah for inspection in February 2018.

Only one piece was recovered. The whereabouts of the remaining 43 became the subject of the suit.

Rosmah argued that the jewellery was seized in police raids linked to the 1MDB investigations in 2018. But the High Court also dismissed her third-party claim against the inspector-general of police and the government. - Mkini