PETALING JAYA, April 6 – International jewellery maker Jacob & Co from New York has confirmed Rosmah Mansor’s denial that she had purchased from them a diamond ring worth millions of ringgit as alleged by a PKR leader in 2011.
Philip Nassimi, the director of fine jewellery of Jacob & Co, also backed Rosmah’s version of events that a diamond ring was indeed shipped under her name to Kuala Lumpur, but that was for the purpose of showing the ring to Maira Nazarbayev, whose son is engaged to Rosmah and Najib Tun Razak’s daughter.
Speaking in a video interview posted by popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin on his site Malaysia-Today, Philip said the 30.11 carat – natural fancy blue, grade cushion diamond – valued at US$8 million, was shipped to Kuala Lumpur for “exhibition and inspection purposes only, and not for sale”.
“It was sent so that Maira Nazarbayev who was residing as a guest at the prime minister’s residence can view the ring,” he said in a 3.49-minute video.
He added that the ring was shipped under Rosmah’s name as US laws only allow for such items to be shipped to a local person with a local address (in Malaysia).
He said the ring, after being viewed by Maira, was shipped out of Kuala Lumpur soon after and reached New York in May 2011.
“The said ring was not purchased by Rosmah nor Maira… it was sold to another client in June 2012,” added Philip.
He also said that Maira was a highly valued customer of Jacob & Co for about 10 years.
“She is a well respected client of this firm,” he said.
He, however, did not state if Rosmah was a client of the jeweller, or if she had made any other purchases with them.
The video was released by Malaysia Today late yesterday and is believed to be recorded last month.
In her biography launched last month, Rosmah had reiterated that she did not own a “RM24 million diamond ring” as alleged by former PKR central committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin in 2011.
“The ring was brought in through Customs to be viewed by Maira Nazarbayev who was with me at the time preparing her son’s engagement to my daughter,” she had said in the book, adding that Maira was a “regular customer” of jewellery maker Jacob & Co.
“Once viewed by Maira, the ring was returned and sent out of Malaysia through Singapore port on April 20, 2011. It arrived at Jacob & Co’s headoffice in New York on May 13, 2011,” said the book titled “Biographi Rosmah Mansor”.
The opposition had claimed that Rosmah had the penchant for spending luxuriously and had exposed documents pertaining to the shipment of the ring, claiming that it was an evidence to show that she had made the expensive purchase.
