The High Court has ordered Rosmah Mansor to pay US$14.6 million to Lebanese company Global Royalty Trading SAL over 43 pieces of jewellery that were provided to her for inspection in 2018 and were not returned.
Justice Quay Chew Soon allowed the company’s claim seeking either the return of the jewellery or payment of its estimated value. The court ordered that the sum be paid within one month.
The judge also dismissed Rosmah’s claim for indemnity against the police, whom she had brought into the proceedings as third parties.
Court finds no justification for failure to return jewellery
In delivering the ruling, Quay said Rosmah had never denied receiving the 43 jewellery items for viewing and had subsequently failed to return them to Global Royalty.
The judge held that once delivery, possession and non-return had been established, it was Rosmah’s responsibility to explain why the items were not returned.
He also found that her position in the present proceedings was inconsistent with arguments made in an earlier government forfeiture application involving jewellery and other luxury items seized from Unit 45 at Pavilion Residences in 2018.
According to the judge, Rosmah had previously maintained that the 43 pieces of jewellery did not belong to her and relied on the consignment note. However, in the present case, she challenged the authenticity of that same document, which the court described as a distraction from the central issues.
Failure to call key witnesses noted by court
The court further observed that Rosmah did not call key witnesses involved in handling and transporting the jewellery and other items from Seri Perdana to Unit 45.
Quay said her reliance on unnamed security personnel, bodyguards, staff and a butler to explain how the jewellery was packed and moved weakened her case and justified an adverse inference.
Court says evidence on seized jewellery was insufficient
During the trial, evidence was presented that the government had possession of one jewellery item in 2022.
However, Quay said no evidence had been produced to demonstrate that the remaining pieces were also seized by the police.
The judge stated that Rosmah’s assertion that police had taken possession of the jewellery was raised to explain her failure to return the items. He added that the movement and handling of the jewellery were matters within her own knowledge and could not be established merely by referring to the police raid and asking the court to assume all 43 pieces had been seized.
Quay also noted that, during cross-examination, Rosmah testified that she was unaware Unit 45 was undergoing renovation or who had entered the premises between May 9 and May 17, 2018, before the raid.
He added that the evidence showed multiple individuals had access to the unit during that one-week period.
Lawyer David Gurupatham represented Global Royalty, while Rajivan Nambiar appeared for Rosmah. Senior federal counsel Liew Horng Bin represented the police.
