The Court of Appeal has dismissed Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s bid for an unconditional stay of a RM67.5 million payment to a Lebanese jeweller.
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today dismissed Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s application for an unconditional stay of payment of RM67.5 million to Lebanon-based jeweller Global Royalty Trading SAL, pending her appeal against a High Court judgment over 43 missing pieces of jewellery.
A three-member panel comprising Justices Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril, Datuk Amarjeet Singh and Datuk Aliza Sulaiman held that there were no exceptional grounds to warrant an unconditional stay.
The court ordered Rosmah, the wife of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to pay RM30,000 in costs.
Rosmah’s appeal against the High Court’s June 10 decision, which found her liable for the loss of the jewellery allegedly entrusted to her, and ordered her to pay RM67.5 million to Global Royalty within one month, is scheduled to be heard by the Court of Appeal on March 25 next year.
On Aug 12 this year, High Court Judicial Commissioner Marianne Antoinette Ghani granted Rosmah a conditional stay of the judgment sum. Under the order, Rosmah must deposit RM67.5 million into a joint stakeholders’ account maintained by solicitors for both parties within one month.
During the hearing today, her lawyer, Mohamed Reza Abdul Rahim, sought the court to allow his client’s application for an unconditional stay of the payment of the judgment sum, to preserve the integrity of the appeal.
“We are only asking for a limited stay for six months because the appeal has already been fixed on March 25 next year,” he said.
He conceded that his client did not appeal the High Court’s order granting the conditional stay and admitted that his client had not complied with the conditional stay order.
Lawyer Datuk David Gurupatham, assisted by R.Venothani, objected to the application, saying that Global Royalty would be deprived of the benefit of its judgment as Rosmah’s assets had been frozen in connection with a lawsuit filed by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) against her.
He referred to Rosmah’s affidavit where she claimed to have only RM20 in a dormant bank account.
Senior Federal Counsel Siti Aishah Ramlan, representing third-party respondents, namely the Inspector-General of Police and the government, said she had no objection to the application.
Global Royalty filed the lawsuit on March 29, 2023, alleging that Rosmah had falsely claimed that 44 pieces of jewellery, including diamond necklaces, bracelets, and tiaras sent to her by the company’s agent, had been seized by the Malaysian authorities under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The company claimed that only one of the 44 pieces of jewellery was retained by the police, while the remaining 43 pieces were not in their custody. Global Royalty further asserted that Rosmah had shifted the responsibility to the Malaysian government when, in fact, the jewellery had gone missing.
On June 10 this year, High Court judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon ordered Rosmah to pay RM67.5 million to Global Royalty within one month. She subsequently applied for a stay.
When met outside the court, David told the media that Rosmah was in breach of the court order and Global Royalty is ready to enforce the judgment sum awarded by the court.
