The WSJ reported that Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor played a central role in the alleged misappropriation from 1MDB. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, 66, may face criminal charges alongside her husband, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is suspected of embezzling funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Citing a plethora of unnamed sources including local investigators into the 1MDB scandal, family members and associates of the couple who were once Malaysia’s most powerful, the US publication reported that Rosmah is seen as having played a central role in the alleged misappropriation from the sovereign investment fund.

“People who know Ms Rosmah say she helped orchestrate the alleged involvement of a young Malaysian financier who the US Justice Department says helped set up the 1MDB fund and then oversaw its looting,” the WSJ wrote in an article published yesterday.

It named the financier as Low Taek Jho, the 36-year-old Penang-born fugitive billionaire, better known as Jho Low, who is wanted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as one of the “main culprits” who helped set up 1MDB in 2009 and then funnelled money from it for other purposes.

In its article, the WSJ traced Rosmah’s “alliance” with Low to over 10 years ago, relating that both had residences close to each other in London.

It added that Low was among several deep-pocket businessmen who had plied Rosmah with her vast array of luxury goods ranging from diamonds, a collection one of her associates had estimated to be worth US$350 million (RM1.41 billion), to handbags, including the collection of Hermes Birkins, watches and more.

According to the WSJ, Low had impressed Rosmah with his friendship to prominent Middle Eastern families while he was still a student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and had later “persuaded an Abu Dhabi state fund to invest in a Malaysian project for which Ms Rosmah’s husband could take credit”.

From then on, Rosmah became Low’s “champion” and introduced him to Najib who the WSJ said gave the financier great leeway in handling 1MDB’s affairs.

It was Low who paid over US$100,000 for a two-page advertisement in The New York Times to welcome Rosmah when she accompanied Najib on his first official trip to the US as prime minister in 2010, the WSJ reported.

It was also Low who facilitated Rosmah’s desire to rub shoulders with Hollywood A-listers like Robert De Niro and Jamie Foxx at parties she attended.

Citing sources familiar with the ongoing investigations, the WSJ reported that Attorney-General Tommy Thomas is now reviewing purchases made by Rosmah, using Najib’s credit cards, for her extravagant shopping sprees abroad at high-end brands like Chanel in Hawaii, and an Italian jewellery shop.

According to the WSJ, Rosmah was the main force behind all of Najib’s actions on 1MDB.

It cited Najib’s associates saying the former PM was focused on getting funds for political purposes and did not appear to be fully informed about 1MDB’s management.

“The wife had more of a picture than the husband,” WSJ cited a person deemed by US investigators as one of the main players in the alleged embezzlement.

It cited another person familiar with Rosmah’s outreach efforts saying that Najib’s wife had even listened in on a phone conference between Malaysia’s ambassador to the US and American lobbyists she had hired to get the US Justice Department to drop all investigations into 1MDB.

The WSJ cited people close to the couple saying Najib wanted to resign when investigations deepened in 2016 but was told by Rosmah to stand firm.

The US Justice Department had filed civil lawsuits seeking to take control of almost US$2 billion worth of assets that supposedly were bought with or came from 1MDB funds but has since asked for a suspension to frame criminal charges.