'Can I advise you something' recording played at Rosmah's trial

ROSMAH TRIAL | An audio recording of Rosmah Mansor's conversation with her husband Najib Abdul Razak that became an internet meme was today played at the Kuala Lumpur High Court during her corruption trial.

Dubbed the "Can I advise you something" recording, it was played for the fifth prosecution witness Mahdzir Khalid, who had served as education minister under Najib's government.

Mahdzir was asked by lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram to identify the voices in the recording, to which he recognised as being that of Rosmah and Najib's.

Earlier, he had testified that Jepak Holdings, which was lobbying a solar hybrid project for schools from his ministry, had the backing of Rosmah. 

Mahdzir also testified that Najib was silent despite Jepak's representatives belittling him and using their connection with Rosmah to pressure him. 

He said Najib had asked him to comply with Jepak's demands.

Rosmah is standing trial for soliciting and accepting bribes from Jepak to help secure them the contract.

The audio recording first came to light on Jan 8 after the MACC released it based on an anonymous tip.

The conversation between Najib and Rosmah was believed to have taken place on July 27, 2016.

The recording started with Rosmah screaming "can I advise you something" at Najib after she was apparently upset that former MACC chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed had allegedly made Najib look bad amid the 1MDB probe. 

While the recording had shown Rosmah's alleged influence on the government through her husband despite not holding any position, the tone of the recording captured the attention of netizens.

Within the same day the recording was released, "Can I advise you something" became a trending topic on Twitter and spawn various memes on social media. 

Rosmah is facing three charges of soliciting and accepting bribes.

On the first count, she is accused of dishonestly soliciting RM187.5 million in gratification, which is 15 percent of the solar hybrid project value from Jepak to help them secure the government contract at a cafe.

On the second count, Rosmah is accused of dishonestly accepting RM1.5 million from Jepak's Saidi at her Jalan Langgak Duta home.

On the third count, she is accused of accepting another RM5 million from Saidi at her Jalan Langgak Duta home.

The case is being presided by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan. - Mkini