KUALA LUMPUR: The former Special Officer to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor had to face off with her lawyer today, forced to answer a series of torrid and embarrassing questions about his lavish lifestyle with a monthly salary of just RM7,000.
Worst of all, Datuk Rizal Mansor also had to admit during cross examination that he and his family had performed the Umrah almost every year while he worked for her using corruption money.
However, the 45-year-old insisted that such money was actually political donation and he saw no wrong in using it to go to the holy land and perform the Umrah with his wife.
Rizal also nonchalantly corrected Rosmah's lawyer Datuk Jagjit Singh when the latter asked if he had gone to Mecca on business class seats.
To this, he cooly answered: "It was first class actually ...and it was on chartered flights."
Jagjit: Did you not feel any shame going to the holy land using corruption money?
Rizal: No.
Jagjit: Wow, you can say it with a straight face.
However, the lawyer stopped him from explaining further when the witness wanted to justify what he meant.
Earlier, Rizal, who is a key witness in the trial involving his former boss, also acknowledged that he lived in a RM3.5 million house and owned a fleet of cars including a Toyota Vellfire, Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi.
He also admitted buying two bicycles made by BMC Switzerland - one of the top brands in bicycle manufacturing, which cost about RM16,000 each.
However, he denied the bicycles cost RM40,000 when Jagjit showed him pictures of the make of bicycle.
"That is a different model," he said even after he was shown a picture of him and his wife posing for a shot while cycling.
At one stage Jagjit became so incensed with Rizal that he called the witness the biggest scumbag in the country.
However, Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan called on the lawyer not to use such words as it was improper, forcing Jagjit to rephrase by calling Rizal the most dishonest, contemptible and despicable person.
Rizal disagreed with the suggestion and coolly sat in the witness box as Jagjit continued to pound him with a barrage of hard hitting questions, sometimes calling him a blatant, pathological liar.
Responding to the lawyer's questions, Rizal admitted that he had previously been slapped with four counts of corruption alongside Rosmah for soliciting and receiving bribes from the managing director of a company which was bidding for and eventually obtained a RM1.25 billion contract.
He, however, denied cutting any deal with the Attorney General's Chambers to have the charges against him dropped so that he could testify against Rosmah and pin the entire blame on her.
"I have never cut any such deal," he said, while admitting that he had received money from the company which he termed as political donation.
Jagjit: Your evidence about this so called political donation is an insult to this court and it is a lie
Rizal: I disagree.
Jagjit: Going to the holy land to pray is also a political donation?
Rizal: Yes.
Jagjit: Isn't political donation supposed to be for political purposes?
Rizal: Yes.
Jagjit: It is corruption money isn't it?
Rizal: I disagree.
Rizal used to serve Rosmah from 2009 until her husband Datuk Seri Najib Razak was ousted from office in 2018 following Barisan Nasional's (BN) defeat in the 14th General Election,
Rosmah is on trial for soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsuddin.
The bribes were allegedly received through Rizal as a reward for helping Jepak Holdings secure the RM1.25 bllion solar hybrid project for 369 schools in the interior of Sarawak.
Rosmah was accused of committing the offences between January 2016 and Sept 2017.
Jagjit will continue with his cross examination tomorrow.