KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ordered Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor to pay RM67.5 million in damages to Lebanese jewellery company Global Royalty Trading SAL over the loss of 43 pieces of luxury jewellery that were not returned to the company.
In a judgment delivered online today, High Court Judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon ruled that Global Royalty Trading SAL had successfully proven its claim and was entitled to recover the value of the missing jewellery.
The court found that Rosmah, the wife of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, had failed to ensure the jewellery entrusted to her was returned to its rightful owner. The judge further held that there was an element of negligence on her part regarding the disappearance of the items.
Rosmah was ordered to settle the RM67.5 million payment within one month from the date of the judgment. In addition, the court awarded legal costs of RM150,000, with RM75,000 payable to the plaintiff and the remaining RM75,000 to a third party involved in the proceedings.
The case arose from allegations that 44 pieces of luxury jewellery, including diamond necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and a tiara, were sent to Rosmah for viewing and evaluation but were never fully returned to the Beirut-based company.
Global Royalty Trading SAL filed the lawsuit in March 2023, claiming Rosmah had suggested that all the jewellery had been seized by Malaysian authorities under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
However, the company maintained that only one of the 44 jewellery pieces was ever in the custody of enforcement authorities, while the remaining 43 items were never seized by police.
The plaintiff argued that the missing jewellery could not be attributed to government enforcement actions and alleged that Rosmah had attempted to shift responsibility for the loss to the Malaysian Government.
The Inspector-General of Police and the Malaysian Government were named as third parties in the proceedings due to claims that the jewellery may have been linked to police operations conducted following the 14th General Election in 2018 amid investigations into the 1MDB scandal.
Rosmah has consistently denied responsibility for the loss of the jewellery, maintaining that the items went missing following a series of police raids at Pavilion Residences in Kuala Lumpur in May 2018.
The court’s ruling marks a significant development in the long-running dispute involving one of the most high-profile luxury jewellery cases linked to the aftermath of the 1MDB investigations.
— MINUTESMY
