'Civil servants feared Rosmah, linking with her led to contracts and datukship'

Civil servants feared Rosmah Mansor in her capacity as the prime minister's wife as they believed crossing her would see them being put in "cold storage", the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard.

Testifying in Rosmah's graft trial, ex-aide Rizal Mansor claimed that was only a rumour to spoil Rosmah's image.

However, he acknowledged that links to Rosmah could lead to government contracts or even a datukship.

"From my experience of working with civil servants, I found Rosmah had a huge influence on them due to a number of factors.

"The main factor is the civil servants' fear towards Rosmah who is seen as a fierce prime minister's wife who could influence the decision and action of the prime minister.

"The civil servants were of the view that Rosmah could influence the prime minister to transfer government officers who went against her or refused her requests to unimportant positions, or in the words of the civil servants - 'cold storage' positions, or positions that are far away from their place of residence," he said.

Rizal said at the material time, he thought this perception was inaccurate and were mere rumours spread with the intent to tarnish Rosmah’s image and reputation among civil servants.

However, Rizal said from his observation, then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was a husband who highly respected Rosmah's views.

Rizal said he started off mostly managing Rosmah's media relations but was later tasked with personal and confidential duties as Rosmah's trust in him grew.

He claimed among the confidential tasks was to accept cash and gifts from businesspersons and contractors on behalf of Rosmah.

Rizal stressed he thought they were political contributions and had not thought them to be an offence.

"To my knowledge, there were a number of entrepreneurs and contractors who managed to get government projects after getting help from Rosmah.

"Normally, these entrepreneurs or contractors will want to provide her with gifts as a form of appreciation and thanks for helping them.

"The gifts include cash payments," he claimed.

Rizal also revealed Rosmah's ability to secure datukships and he was one such product.

"Rosmah's trust, confidence, and appreciation towards my performance and contribution were evident when she recommended that I receive the 'Dato' title.

"I received the award in 2014 even though my (government) position was only Grade N48. The award is normally reserved for government officers who are Grade 54 and above," he testified.

Rizal claimed that as a result, government agencies tend to be very respectful and fearful of the First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM) division, which was under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

He claimed that this was driven by both Rosmah being the wife of the prime minister and the stewardship of FLOM division by its then head Siti Azizah Abod.

Earlier today, the witness testified that the division was established for the welfare of the prime minister's wife.

“Any requests from the FLOM division would be carried out by the government agencies speedily without being burdened by bureaucracy,” Rizal claimed.

Rosmah is on trial over three charges on the alleged misappropriation of funds for the supply and installation of solar energy panels at 369 rural schools in Sarawak for the Education Ministry.

She faces one count of allegedly soliciting RM187.5 million and two charges of purportedly receiving a bribe of RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin as a reward for helping the company secure the RM1.25 billion project obtained through direct negotiations with the ministry.

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