RM2m bail set for Rosmah

Judge Azura Alwi set two conditions for bail: that Rosmah surrenders her passport to court, and that she not disturb the witnesses or potential witnesses in her case. ― Picture by Firdaus Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — The Sessions Court today set bail at RM2 million for Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor who earlier claimed trial to 17 charges under anti-money-laundering laws over the misappropriation of RM7 million in funds believed linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Judge Azura Alwi also set two conditions for bail: that Rosmah surrenders her passports to court, and that she not disturb the witnesses or potential witnesses in her case.

“RM500k today, the remaining to be paid by or before October 11,” the judge said in her decision on the bail payment.

The bail is also to be posted with two sureties.

Rosmah’s lawyers had asked for payment to be paid in installments.

The prosecution, led by Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, had earlier sought for a RM10 million bail with the same two conditions, citing the severity of the offences.

He also told the court that the second condition was necessary as he claimed Rosmah had previously attempted to influence a potential witness’ statement.

He said the 66-year-old wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak “had approached the witness to make a statement in her favour”.

Sri Ram tendered a certified true copy of a police report regarding a complaint that a material witness involved in the investigations against Rosmah had allegedly been approached. Sri Ram later confirmed to reporters that the witness was Tan Sri Halim Saad.

Sri Ram had also noted that the charges against Rosmah are non-bailable offences, which means bail is not automatically granted but can be given at the discretion of the judge.

Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent sought to mitigate the bail amount, asking for RM250,000.

He said his client is willing to comply with the two conditions, adding that Rosmah had been cooperative when called for questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

He also gave a long list of cases where lower bail was granted for alleged offences involving huge sums, including Najib’s RM3.5 million bail when the latter was charged with 21 counts of money-laundering offences.

But Sri Ram had objected to the suggested sum of RM250,000.

“It’s a ridiculously low amount. If that is suggested, may as well set RM1. I don’t think that is a correct approach to the case,” he responded.

Sri Ram had also argued that the RM10 million amount was reasonable given the facts of the case, given the severity of the offences that Rosmah was charged with and which he said was compounded by her station in life.

“In this case, the character and standing of the accused unfortunately goes against her, because a person of her standing should not be in the dock in the first place,” he said.

He also pointed out that the list of court cases cited by Geethan Ram was different as they did not have the element of witness tampering.

He indicated that the prosecution could have pushed for bail to be refused to Rosmah but did not do so, despite there being a precedent in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case where witness tampering was a ground for bail refusal.

“In this case, prosecution is not taking a hard stand. That is because of the station of the accused, we have given consideration of the status of the accused,” he said.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, who is on the five-man prosecution team, also confirmed to the court that he had been involved in the prosecution of many of the court cases cited by Geethan Ram but said none of them involved witness tampering and should be distinguished from Rosmah’s case.

Lawyer Datuk K. Kumaraendran, who is also defending Rosmah, argued that the court should not take into account the alleged witness-tampering attempt when deciding on the bail amount.

“My client had not been given an opportunity to refute these...This court should take consideration because she’s not given opportunity to answer the allegation, the allegation should not be taken into consideration,” he said.

Rosmah’s case is next set to be mentioned at the Sessions Court on November 8. -MMO