KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has today reiterated that she had neither received nor possessed the US$23 million necklace with a large pink diamond created by New York jeweller Lorraine Schwartz.

In a statement issued by her legal counsels, Rosmah said she has no knowledge of the invoice produced and shown to the jury in the ongoing trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng in the United States.

Rosmah further stated that the sensationalisation of the matter is another scurrilous attempt to defame her and Najib politically. 

"It is pertinent to note that our client had never received the pink diamond necklace and this is evident as despite being subjected to several raids by the authorities the pink diamond necklace was never found to be in possession of our client. 

"In any event, our client takes the position that the production of the invoice per se does not amount to any form of conclusive evidence implicating our client in the purchase of the pink diamond necklace,” Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent said.

She later further pointed out that the value of the said necklace was never made known to her or her husband Datuk Seri Najib Razak, adding that the couple did not at any time demanded, requested or show intent to purchase the luxury jewellery.

However, she did admit that both she and Najib only knew of a United Arab Emirates prince named Sheikh Mansour Zayed who wanted to gift the pink diamond necklace to her.

According to news reports, the receipt in the form of an invoice was part of the evidence to prove that the necklace was bought with money allegedly looted from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The jeweller’s records showed that Low Taek Jho or Jho Low had contacted Schwartz in June 2013, asking her to create a pink diamond necklace with a heart-shaped gem at its centre for Rosmah.

Court testimony revealed that while Rosmah asked for an 18-carat diamond, Schwartz said she only had a 22-carat pink diamond, and a US$23 million deal was struck for the larger stone.

Records also showed that Rosmah later bought an additional US$1.3 million in jewellery from Schwartz in 2014.

Ng, the only Goldman banker to stand trial in the scandal, is accused of conspiring with his former boss Tim Leissner to help Low syphon billions of dollars from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

Leissner, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to the scandal, is cooperating with US authorities and testified against Ng at the trial.