KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia on Thursday accused Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, on charges of soliciting and receiving bribes involving a sum of 189 million ringgit ($45.12 million) from a company pitching for a government project.
Najib and his wife, who has faced criticism for her extravagant lifestyle, are at the centre of a wide-ranging graft investigation launched by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was returned to power by a stunning election victory in May.
Prosecutors who charged Rosmah with two counts of corruption said the payments concerned a 1.25-billion-ringgit ($298-million) solar project in schools in Malaysia’s eastern state of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.
She pleaded not guilty to both the charges.
Prosecutors said Rosmah sought a bribe of 187.5 million ringgit ($45 million) in 2016 from an executive of Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd, and received a bribe of 1.5 million ringgit ($358,000) the following year from the official.
A spokeswoman for Jepak Holdings declined to comment to Reuters.
Since his election defeat, Najib has been charged with 38 counts of graft, mostly over a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal at state fund 1Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB). Rosmah was last month charged with 17 money laundering offences.
Najib and Rosmah have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
($1=4.1900 ringgit)
(Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
