
Malaysia'sformerfirstlady, who allegedly bankrolled a luxurious lifestyle with kickbacks and stolen public money, wentontrialWednesday forcorruptionfor thefirsttime since her husband lost power.
Rosmah Mansor, notorious for making overseas shopping trips and owning vast collections of handbags and jewellery, became a lightning rod for public anger as the government of prime minister Najib Razak was engulfed bycorruptionallegations.
Her husband's long-ruling coalition suffered a shock election defeat in 2018 in large part due to claims he and his officials plundered billions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Both Najib and his wife have since been hit with multiple charges over the looting of the investment vehicle, but Rosmah'sfirsttrialcentresonallegations she received bribes linked to a government project.
Prosecutors allege she pocketed 6.5 million ringgit for helping a company secure the project to provide solar power generators to schoolsontheMalaysianpart of Borneo island.
The 68-year-old is also accused of soliciting a further 187.5 million ringgit.
Rosmah faces three counts ofcorruptionfor the offences, which allegedly took place in 2016 and 2017.