KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has denied requesting jewellery worth millions of Ringgit from a well-known wholesale jeweller from Lebanon, the High Court heard.
Instead, she said Global Royalty Trading SAL (GRT) sent her the valuable jewelry because they wanted publicity and desired her as a customer.
She said this was due to the fact that she was the wife of the prime minister at the material time and there were business dealings similar to those desired by the plaintiff.
"The purpose of delivering the said packaged goods to Rosmah is for the benefit and advantage of the plaintiff itself, in order to gather, obtain, and attract publicity or credibility among buyers.
"Therefore, these goods will be delivered to Rosmah for her to inspect at her own discretion and willingness.
"There is no obligation on the part of the defendant to purchase these goods," she said in her court document to answer a US$14.79 million (RM60 million) lawsuit linked to 43 pieces of jewellery.
The suit was filed by GRT against Rosmah to recover the jewellery seized by police from two condominium units linked to Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the upmarket Pavilion Residences five years ago.
Rosmah also claimed that she has taken all reasonable and prudent steps to ensure the safety of the jewellery.
"Therefore, the defendant cannot be held responsible for the loss of the said jewellery as they were taken by the police through a legal operation.
"Rosmah is not the cause of the loss of the said valuable goods," she said.
Rosmah claimed the plaintiff's representative had met her to inquire about the status of the jewellery on May 22, 2018.
"Rosmah, in an honest manner, informed that the police or Malaysian Government had taken and seized the said jewellery.
"The plaintiff's representative instructed Rosmah to sign a five-pages memorandum and stated her signature was necessary so that GRT could engage in discussions with the police to retrieve the jewellery," she claimed.
She claimed her statement regarding the seizure of the jewellery by police is true and meritorious, as one of the said jewellery was found in police possession.
"The defendant asserts that she had kept all the jewellery together in the same place, and they were seized and taken by the police.
"It is widely known that all the valuable assets owned by the defendant and her family were seized and confiscated by the police at the material time.
"Therefore, it is impossible for the defendant to have retained the valuable jewellery worth millions of Ringgit," she claimed, adding that the defendant was also not allowed to leave the country.
She claimed that the government should be held responsible if the jewellery was lost. The company filed the suit on June 26, 2018 to compel Rosmah to return the jewellery it had sent to her for viewing, including a diamond necklace, earrings, rings, bracelets and a tiara, each worth between US$124,000 and US$925,000.
In its suit, Global Royalty claimed that on Feb 10, 2018, it sent 43 pieces of jewellery including diamond necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and tiaras, each worth US$124,000 (RM519,183) to US$925,000 (RM3.8 million), to the defendant through hand-carry courier via its two agents.
It also claimed that Rosmah, in a letter dated May 22, 2018, also confirmed and acknowledged receiving the jewellery but said all the jewellery were no longer in her possession, and that it had been seized and was being kept by the Malaysian authorities.
However, on Oct 23, 2019, Global Royalty decided to withdraw the claim and instead focused on intervening in the government's forfeiture proceedings against OBYU Holdings Sdn Bhd, the owner of a property from which 12,000 pieces of jewellery were seized by the police.