Pink gem money trail found

PETALING JAYA: A money trail has been established on the purchase of a pink diamond that allegedly used 1Malaysia Develop­ment Bhd (1MDB) funds, says Senior Asst Comm Datuk Khalil Azlan Chik.

The Bukit Aman IGP secretariat Anti-Money Laundering division chief said investigators had obtained evidence that the pink diamond worth US$23mil (RM94.6mil) was bought from a jeweller in New York using 1MDB funds.“Even though the diamond was not found during the raids we conducted, we have found enough evidence to show that the diamond was purchased,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He was commenting on the denial issued by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor regarding the purchase of the pink diamond.

Earlier this week, Rosmah said she would forgive those who had slandered her over her alleged purchase of the 22-carat pink diamond.

Rosmah claimed the issue was trumped up by certain parties to “use it for the elections”.

“If people come to apologise to me, I will forgive them. But what is more important is to apologise to the people,” she said at the Kuala Lum­pur Courts Complex on Wed­nesday.

On Monday, a news portal reported that Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah said the sales agent who brought in a pink diamond, along with other items of jewellery for the “wife of a VVIP”, declared the items when taking them out of Malaysia.

“No purchase took place because the agent took the jewellery out (of the country),” he said.- Star