Rosmah's ex-aide admits fleeing country after GE14, feared MACC action
ROSMAH TRIAL | A former aide to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, has admitted to fleeing the country after the 14th general election as he feared the MACC was closing in on him.
Testifying at Rosmah's graft trial involving a government solar hybrid project, Rizal Mansor (photo, above) told the Kuala Lumpur High Court said the MACC had been looking into the project since around February to March 2018.
ROSMAH TRIAL | A former aide to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, has admitted to fleeing the country after the 14th general election as he feared the MACC was closing in on him.
Testifying at Rosmah's graft trial involving a government solar hybrid project, Rizal Mansor (photo, above) told the Kuala Lumpur High Court said the MACC had been looking into the project since around February to March 2018.
"At the time, I was not worried because I believe the investigation won't come to Rosmah or me as she was the prime minister's wife," he said.
However, Rizal said this changed after BN was defeated in the 14th general election.
"Following the 14th general election and a revelation by Sarawak Report, I was investigated about my involvement in the award of the project," he said.
Rizal said he grew worried when the MACC arrested two Jepak Holdings executives, the company which Rosmah allegedly helped to secure the government contract in exchange for kickbacks. Rizal had purportedly acted as Rosmah's liaison in the negotiations.
"I panicked and decided to flee to Jakarta, Indonesia.
"Two to three weeks after that, the MACC contacted me to present myself at the MACC office to facilitate their investigation," he said.
Rizal said he had asked for a delay by claiming that he had business matters to attend to, but the MACC gave him a week to cooperate.
"After giving it much thought, I finally decided to return to Malaysia. I could not run forever because I will eventually still have to face the situation.
"On the day I presented myself to the MACC, I was arrested and remanded for six days. Subsequently, I faced four charges in court," he said.
Rizal, who is the prosecution's witness in Rosmah's graft trial, had earlier applied to the court to prevent the media from reporting his testimony but was rejected.
On Jan 8, it was reported that solar project-linked graft charges were dropped against Rizal.
He is now the 21st prosecution witness in the corruption trial against Rosmah.
Rosmah, who is the wife of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, 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.
Editor's note: Based on legal advice, the commenting feature for the above article has been disabled.
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