Humbling of Najib, Rosmah good for Malaysia: civil society

[superadmin]

KUALA LUMPUR – Civil society groups are hopeful Malaysia’s scandal-tainted reputation can be restored following the high court’s guilty verdict of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor on three counts of corruption, just nine days after her  husband Datuk Seri Najib Razak was incarcerated. 

This marks the fall from grace of what was once arguably Malaysia’s most powerful couple, who lived a lavish lifestyle for years off the millions of ringgit of public funds that the court has established to have been siphoned.

While the Pekan MP began his 12-year prison sentence on August 23, Rosmah, or the self-styled First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM) as she was officially known during Najib’s administration, was brought to her knees yesterday, having been found guilty of corruption involving a solar energy project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak worth RM1.25 billion.

She was sentenced to 10 years in jail and a whopping RM970 million fine, an amount her defence lawyers called unprecedented eclipsing the RM210 million fine imposed on Najib. She has been given a stay of execution.

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