KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was the first ever prime minister’s wife to have her own dedicated division within the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the High Court heard.
This was revealed by Huzairi Zainal Abidin, a government officer in the Prime Minister’s Office, during the graft trial of the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday.
Huzairi, 42, said Rosmah had what was called the First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM) division which was set up to coordinate the programmes of the prime minister that involved her.
“Prior to Najib’s administration, the wives were only given the help of a private secretary to coordinate the programmes of the prime ministers that required their attendance.“Before this, the FLOM division never existed within the Prime Minister’s Office, ” he said when reading his witness statement.
Huzairi, who has served in the PMO since 2003, said the wives of prime ministers did not typically have a role in government.
“But she has a role in society as the wife of the prime minister.
“This means that she plays a role in charity and volunteer work and she accompanies the prime minister to official government functions, ” he said.
Huzairi said the name of the division was changed from FLOM to Special Division (Bahagian Khas) after the name courted controversy.
“The FLOM division was listed in the directory in the PMO’s website.
“This matter became controversial after the public thought that this meant that Rosmah had her own physical office in the PMO, ” he said, adding that she did not have her own office.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Azrul Zulkifli Stork, Huzairi however said the “public” he referred to in his witness statement was the then Opposition.
Azrul: It says the public in your statement. Is the Opposition the public? Does the Opposition constitute the whole of Malaysia?
Huzairi: The Opposition is part of the public.
The first prosecution witness added that Datuk Rizal Mansor, who was originally jointly charged with Rosmah but later acquitted, had served as an officer in the FLOM division.
The court also heard that two separate withdrawals of RM5mil and RM1.5mil were made at the Medan Tuanku branch of Maybank by Saidi Abang Samsudin.
Maybank bank officer Azimah Aziz, who is the third prosecution witness, said the RM5mil and RM1.5mil were withdrawn in denominations of RM100.
Saidi, who was Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd’s managing director, had requested for the RM5mil withdrawal on Dec 19,2016 and the money was delivered to the branch the next day, Dec 20,2016, by Armour Security, said Azimah.
Saidi also came to the branch the same day to collect the money, she added.
“On that day, Saidi came with a Malay guy and he went into the cash room. Saidi took the money and recounted it and put it in the bag he was carrying, ” she said.
Azimah, 38, said Saidi withdrew the RM1.5mil on Sept 7,2017 at the same Maybank branch.
“I recognise Saidi as I have dealt with him before. While in the cash room, a tanned man (berkulit sawo matang) came in carrying
what I remember as black backpacks, ” she said.
“Before I handed the money to Saidi, I did ask him the reason for the withdrawal. He only answered that it was for his business.
“Seeing that he seemed reluctant to share the reason for the withdrawal, I didn’t ask further questions, ” she said.
She said Saidi placed the RM1.5mil into two backpacks carried by the tanned man.
The second prosecution witness, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer Mohd Redzuan Othaman, 26, identified a photograph as that of Rosmah’s living room where a bag containing RM1.5mil was allegedly placed in on Sept 7,2017.
The photograph was one in a series of 10 photographs that were taken on Nov 2,2018 by him, he said.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, Redzuan however admitted that he did not personally witness the bag being in the room.
The trial continues before High Court judge Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan today. -The Star