PUTRAJAYA: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s absence from court; validated by a medical certificate (MC) issued by her doctor, is no longer an issue.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Latheefa Koya confirmed that all was well.
“Rosmah had to appear the next day and the trial started, so no issue there,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the 2020 APEC Symposium on Gender Mainstreaming and Women Empowerment to Fight Corruption.
She said MACC had been instructed to investigate the issue after the MC was produced in court on the first day of her corruption trial.
Latheefa said the prosecution had instructed MACC to investigate the case.
“It was a request from the counsel due to the production of the MC at the last minute.”
On Monday, Rosmah’s counsel Datuk Jagjit Singh’s told the court his client’s absence was due to Cervical spondylosis.
He told the court that the condition could be described life-threatening, referring to a Google search.
Jagjit earlier did not want to reveal why the MC was issued, justifying it by saying “it will be embarrassing for the whole nation to know the sickness of a person.”
Rosmah, 69, was supposed to attend the first day of her corruption trial in connection with the supply and installation of solar panels at 369 rural schools in Sarawak.
She is facing two counts of soliciting RM187.5 million and receiving RM1.8 million for projects to provide solar energy to rural schools in Sarawak.
On the first count, she was charged with dishonestly soliciting for herself a gratification of RM187.5 million –which is 15 per cent of the value of the contract from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudain.
It was an inducement to help the company secure the Hybrid Photovoltaic Solar System Integrated Project and Maintenance and Operation of Genset/Diesel for 369 rural schools in Sarawak, worth RM1.25 billion through direct negotiation from the Education Ministry.
She was charged with committing the offence at Lygon Café, in Sunway Putra Mall, Jalan Putra, Chow Kit between March and April 2016.
On the second count, she was charged with dishonestly receiving for herself RM1.5 million from Saidi for the same purpose at No 11, Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta on Sept 7, 2017.
Rosmah also faces a third count of accepting gratification of RM5 million from Saidi to secure the same project at the same place in Jalan Langgak Duta.