Prestigious New York jeweller Lorraine Schwartz told a US court that she secured a US$23 million (RM97 million) deal to sell Rosmah Mansor a 22-carat diamond necklace.
Schwartz said this in her statement which prosecutors entered into court records in the trial against former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng.
The evidence provided by Schwartz contradicted former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's claim in 2018 that the diamond was a gift from United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Mansour Zayed.
According to Bloomberg, Schwartz was contacted by 1MDB-linked businessperson Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, in June 2013 to create a "pink diamond necklace with a heart-shaped gem".
The Bloomberg report said Rosmah, who is Najib’s wife, "asked" for an 18-carat diamond but Schwartz only had a 22-carat diamond. A deal was struck anyway.
According to Schwartz's statement, she personally delivered the necklace to Rosmah aboard a yacht, with Low present, off the coast of Monaco.
Invoice shown to jury
Schwartz's statement also saw her claiming that Rosmah bought an additional US$1.3 million worth of jewellery from the former in 2014.
An invoice for the US$23 million jewellery was shown to the jury, but not the actual piece or even a photo of it.
The jury was also shown the plastic case for a DVD of the film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and a screenshot from the credits thanking Low for his support.
The film was co-produced by Riza Aziz - Rosmah's son from her first marriage.
In 2018, Riza's film company Red Granite reached a settlement with the US authorities and forfeited US$60 million.
Prosecutors were looking to use both the jewellery and the film to show how US$6.5 billion in funds raised by 1MDB were diverted for nefarious purposes.
Ng has been charged with abetting his former boss Tim Leissner in arranging for the US$6.5 billion worth of bonds raised by 1MDB in three tranches. - Mkini
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