KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has been ordered to answer a US$14.79 million (RM60 million) lawsuit linked to 43 pieces of jewellery within three weeks.
The suit was filed by a well-known wholesale jeweller from Lebanon against Rosmah to recover the jewellery seized by the police from two condominium units linked to Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the upmarket Pavilion Residences five years ago.
Counsel David Gurupatham, when contacted, said deputy registrar Rini Triany Muhamad Ali made the order during a case management today.
He said the court ordered Rosmah to file her defence before June 2. The court also fixed June 7 for the next case management.
Besides the jewellery, other assets seized included RM114 million cash, 284 handbags, 423 watches and 234 sunglasses, which totalled RM900 million to RM1.1 billion.
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.
