KUALA LUMPUR - Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor is sentenced to 10 years jail and fined RM970 million after she was found guilty of all three corruption charges linked to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid energy project.
This is the highest amount of fine being handed down to an accused amounting to almost RM1 billion in a criminal case.
In his broad grounds, High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said after conducting maximum evaluation in the case, the court found that the accused has failed to rebut the presumption under Section 50 (1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act on the balance of probabilities for all the charges.
He said Rosmah’s defence was a bare denial, devoid of credible evidence and unsubstantiated in order to create a reasonable doubt.
"The prosecution has succeeded in proving its case beyond reasonable doubt.
"The accused is therefore found guilty of all three charges,” he said.
In mitigation, Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Jagjit Singh pleaded for his client to be sentenced to a day’s jail.
Having started the Permata Foundation which was Rosmah’s brainchild, Jagjit said no wife of a prime minister has ever contributed to such a scheme.
"Permata is her brainchild for the education of underprivileged children. This is a very tangible act for the country, for the people that she came up with,” he said.
However, senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said the gravity of the offence reflected in the penalty prescribed by the law which was a maximum 20 years jail and a fine of not less than five time the amount of bribe (under the charge).
He said he could not agree with the lawyer on the one-day jail sentence because the purpose of a conviction was to send a message to the society.
"If it is a one-day imprisonment, I’m afraid it will send the wrong message to the society. This is a very serious case,” he said.
Sri Ram asked the court for the sentences to run concurrently and a maximum fine to be imposed totalling RM970 million.
After a short break for deliberation, Zaini sentenced Rosmah to 10 years jail for each charge and a total of RM970 million fine.
He ordered for the sentences to run concurrently from the date of the judgement.
This means that Rosmah will only serve a total of 10 years' jail.
She was also ordered to serve another 30 years in jail if she failed to pay the fine.
The court however allowed the defence’s application for a stay of execution pending appeal at the Court of Appeal.
The bail of RM2 million the accused previously posted when she was charged was maintained.
Earlier, before delivering his verdict, Zaini made a ruling on Rosmah’s bid to recuse him from hearing or making a decision on her corruption case The recusal application was based on an alleged "leaked judgement” of Rosmah's case, which was prepared by another party.
The judge said the two documents raised in the application were opinions by the research unit and not a draft judgement prepared for him and that it remained as just an opinion.
"They are not my grounds nor are they my decision.
"I hope the research unit would forgive me for saying this but I have not read their opinion," Zaini said.
He said he has always done his own work and that he had written many judgements.
He said anyone can form their opinion but what matters to him was his own.
"Most people do not realise how difficult the judges’ roles could be.
"We are not here to be popular nor are we here to make popular decisions. We are here to dispense justice," he said.
He assured parties that he will not prejudice the accused or anyone who appeared before him in court.
He added that that if his decision was wrong, the appeals court would correct it.
"The application is dismissed," he said.
Rosmah faced one charge of soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd former managing director Saidi Abang Samsuddin.
She allegedly received the bribes through her former aide Datuk Rizal Mansor, as a reward for helping Jepak Holdings to secure the Hybrid Photovoltaic Solar System Integrated Project as well as the maintenance and operation of diesel generator sets for 369 rural schools in Sarawak worth RM1.25 billion from the Education Ministry through direct negotiation.
The offences were allegedly committed between January 2016 and September 2017.