Did they have a $23m pink diamond or did they not?

The trial of the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng is delivering more surprises and what appears to be new evidence on some very elusive necklace with a pink diamond large enough that it could be used as a paperweight!

According to Bloomberg, the jury at the trial saw tangible evidence of the treasures purchased with money allegedly plundered in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal.

And it was about the much-talked pink diamond that ex-PM Najib Razak’s wife, Rosmah Mansor was said to have bought for a whopping $23 million.

Now it appears that the diamond was an item that was purchased despite the fact that her lawyers and faithful husband claim it was given to her by an Arab royal family.

Lorraine Schwartz, a renowned New York jeweller, designed the necklace for Rosmah, who was Malaysia’s First Lady at the time.

Schwartz, has worked with superstars such as Beyonce, Adele, and Blake Lively and made a statement that was recorded into the official court record by prosecutors.

According to the narrative, Jho Low, a fugitive businessman and 1MDB mastermind contacted Schwartz in June 2013, requesting that the jeweller construct a pink diamond necklace with a heart-shaped stone in its centre for Rosmah.

However, when Rosmah requested an 18-carat diamond, “Ms Schwartz claimed she only had a 22-carat pink diamond,” and the larger stone was purchased for US$23 million.

The court heard that Schwartz personally presented the jewellery to Rosmah while she was vacationing onboard a boat with Low off the coast of Monaco. According to the documents, Rosmah later purchased an additional US$1.3 million in jewellery from Schwartz in 2014.

Rosmah, until today, has denied that she bought the pink diamond. On April 2019, Rosmah said that she is relieved that the truth about her alleged purchase of a 22-carat pink diamond pendant for (then) US$27 million (approximately RM110 million) has come to light.

Then deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah had said that the purchase did not take place in Malaysia, although the sales agent had brought the diamond in and out of the country.

According to reports, Rosmah said the pieces of jewellery were taken by police during a raid on the former premier’s home in 2018 in connection with a corruption investigation.

Rosmah is alleged to be the owner of the pink diamond pendant, which Najib said was a gift from Prince Sheikh Mansour, the brother of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, in an interview in 2018.

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