Rosmah, who used to be the first lady of Malaysia, was found guilty of bribery

Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Rosmah Mansor , the wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was found guilty on Thursday of ...

Image: Reuters

Berita 24 English - Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was found guilty on Thursday of asking for and taking bribes in exchange for government contracts. Her husband was just put in jail for corruption a few days earlier.

Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan of the Kuala Lumpur High Court said that the government had proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Before giving Rosmah's sentence, the judge asked her lawyers to explain why she should get a lighter sentence.

Rosmah, who could go to jail and pay a fine, spoke to the judge in tears right after the verdict.

She said, "I have to say that I'm very sad about what happened today." "No one saw me take the money or count it, but if that's what you think, I'll leave it up to God."

Rosmah, who is 70 years old, pleaded not guilty to three charges that she asked for and accepted bribes between 2016 and 2017 to help a company get a $279 million solar power supply project from the government while her husband was in power.

The charges could lead to up to 20 years in prison and a fine of at least five times the amount of the bribe. However, Rosmah could ask the Kuala Lumpur High Court to hold off on sentencing until she has a chance to appeal to a higher court.

Prosecutors say Rosmah asked for a bribe of 187.5 million ringgit ($41.80 million) and got 6.5 million ringgit from an employee of the company that won the project.

Rosmah has said that her former assistant and several government and company workers involved in the project set her up.

Najib and his wife, who has been criticised for living a lavish life, are at the centre of a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption that started after Najib lost a historic election in 2018 and lost his job as prime minister for nine years.

Malaysia's highest court upheld Najib's conviction in a case related to a multibillion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. He started serving his 12-year prison sentence last week (1MDB). He is still being tried for corruption in four other cases.

($1 = 4.4880 ringgit)