KUALA LUMPUR: The hearing of a lawsuit filed by a Lebanese jewellery firm against former prime minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, has been postponed until the police could confirm the status of 44 jewellery pieces, worth US$14.79 million or RM60.21 million, that were sent to her for viewing.
Lawyer N. Rajivan, representing Rosmah, hearing of the case, which had been fixed on March 4 and 5 had been vacated after senior federal counsel S. Narkunavathy, representing the government, informed the court that jewellery, which had been seized, were still with the police for investigation.
“The police are also not able to confirm the status of the 44 jewellery pieces pending completion of the investigation in May,” he told reporters after proceeding of the case, was was held in chambers, before judicial commissioner Wong Chee Lin today.
Bukit Bukit Aman Head of Special Investigation Division of the Anti Money-Laundering Team Supt Foo Wei Min, in a supporting affidavit, had confirmed that police were still investigating and could not yet confirm whether the 44 jewellery pieces were part of the 12,000 pieces seized.
Rajivan said if investigation found that the 44 jewellery pieces were in the custody of the police, the defendant would file an application to strike out the suit on grounds that the court had no jurisdiction to hear it.
Meanwhile, lawyer Datuk David Gurupatham, representing the jeweller, Global Royalty Trading SAL, told reporters that the court was satisfied with the explanation given by Narkunavathy and fixed May 24 for case management.
Yesterday, Foo was ordered to be at the court to explain on the status of the 44 jewellery pieces.
Last Feb 14, the High Court ordered Rosmah to check and confirm in seven days the existence of the 44 pieces of jewellery that were in her possession, but were allegedly seized by police.
Global Royalty filed the suit against Rosmah on June 26 last year, seeking the return of the 44 pieces of jewellery sent to her for selection or pay the price for all the items amounting to US$14.79 million or almost RM60 million.
In its statement of claim, Global Royalty claimed that in on Feb 10 2018, they sent 44 pieces of jewellery including diamond necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and tiaras, each worth between US$124,000 and US$925,000 to the defendant with hand carry courier via its two agents.
The company said during the delivery, Rosmah confirmed and accepted the terms as well as conditions in Memorandum No. 926 relating to the jewellery.
It also claimed that Rosmah, in a letter dated May 22, 2018, also confirmed and acknowledged receiving the jewellery concerned but said all the jewellery were no longer in her possession, and they had been confiscated and were now being kept by the Malaysian authorities.
Global Royalty is seeking the court’s declaration that the firm was the owner of the 44 pieces of jewellery apart from the order that ownership of the jewellery was not transferred to the defendant.
It is also seeking a mandatory order for Rosmah to provide a list of jewellery seized, for the jewellery to be returned or for Rosmah to pay the price of the jewellery of US$14.79 million (RM59.83 million). — Bernama
