Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor is to apply to suspend the proceedings of a lawsuit filed against her by a Lebanese jewellery firm seeking the return of 44 pieces of jewellery it has alleged to have sent to her.
Her lawyer N Rajivan said the application was necessary because the government had yet to verify whether the jewellery was in the possession of the police or Rosmah.
He said Judicial Commissioner Wong Chee Lin had set Feb 25 to hear the application after he was informed of Rosmah’s intention to file the application.
“We will file the application to suspend proceedings until the end of the seizure period of the jewellery. We will file it before Feb 25,” Rajivan said.
Rajivan said he and fellow counsel Reza Rahim believed the deadline of the seizure period of the jewellery was May.
Lawyer Datuk G David, who is acting on behalf of Lebanese firm Global Royalty Trading SAL, said the court had also ordered the government to file a statement of defence as the second defendant in the suit, and that the trial had been set for March 4 and 5.
On Aug 20, 2018, the High Court allowed the government’s application to be an intervenor in the suit and was named the second defendant.
On June 26, 2018, Global Royalty sued Rosmah, demanding that she returns 44 jewellery items sent to her for viewing purposes, or to pay the full price of all the items worth US$14.79 million (RM60.21 million).
Global Royalty claimed that on Feb 10, 2018, it had sent 44 jewellery items, including diamond necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and tiaras, each worth between US$124,000 and US$925,000 to the defendant, hand-delivered via two of its agents.
The firm has applied for the court to declare it as the legal owner of all the jewellery items and that ownership had never been transferred to the defendant.
Rosmah, in her statement of defence filed on July 23, 2018, denied purchasing any of the jewellery and that the company had willingly sent the items to her for viewing purposes in her capacity as the wife of the Malaysian prime minister at the time, without any obligation to make a purchase.
Meanwhile, federal counsel Shaiful Nizam Shahrin told the High Court today police still could not confirm whether the jewellery from Global Royalty worth RM60 million was part of the 12,000-piece haul from raids on premises linked to her husband, former prime minister Najib Razak, in May last year.
Shaiful told the court that the police were unable to confirm or clarify where the 44 items came from.
He also said the government intends to file an application to stay the proceedings pending confirmation from police on the matter.
Judicial commissioner Wong Chee Lin fixed February 25 for parties to file applications to stay proceedings.
He also ordered the Attorney-General’s Chambers to file the government’s defence by the same day.
Reiterating that the court has already maintained March 4 and 5 as the trial dates, David said Rosmah will have to come to court and explain where the jewellery is, or if indeed, it was seized.
Another jeweller, Dubai-based Adi Hasan Al-Fardan is also seeking to recover jewellery worth more than US$5 million (RM20.75 million) delivered to Rosmah.
He too claimed that he had not been paid but has yet to file a suit.