The infamous 22-carat pink diamond pendant linked to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was a gift from a prince of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), her husband Datuk Seri Najib Razak has explained today.
The former prime minister said the still-missing US$27 million (RM112.7 million) diamond was given by Prince Sheikh Mansour, the brother of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and not fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.
“We know that Jho low was a close associate of Sheikh Mansour,” he told Al Jazeera’s ‘101 East‘ show.
However, Najib insisted that Rosmah never received the said gift.
“It’s a matter of dispute what happened to the pink diamond. So let’s not jump to conclusions,” he added.
The jewellery was allegedly gifted to Rosmah in March 2014.
It was part of the US$30 million jewellery purportedly bought with funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), according to a United States Department of Justice civil suit.
Al Jazeera reporter Mary Ann Jolley also pressed Najib on the fact that Rosmah and Low had met, and that jeweller Lorraine Schwartz who made the necklace knew that the diamond was a gift from Low to Rosmah paid by him.
“We didn’t know. As far as we were concerned, it was a gift from Sheikh Mansour who would know where it came from and who paid for it.
“We wouldn’t know! We did not know the value of the present,” Najib said.
– Malay Mail