Her former aide Rizal Mansor said the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak had enlisted the assistance of controversial pseudo writers like Papagomo, Parpukari and The Unspinners.
“Between 12 and 15 bloggers, who included Papagomo, Parpukari and The Unspinners were (each) paid RM3,000 per month,” the 20th prosecution witness said when cross-examined by defence lawyer Jagjit Singh.
The witness, however, said Papagomo was paid RM5,000 a month as he was also one of the four team leaders for the cyber troopers.
In his witness statement which he read out last week, Rizal said Rosmah was very concerned about her image, reputation and public perception as the wife of Najib.
Rizal, who worked for Rosmah from 2009 to May 2018, said as media officer for the accused, he set up a cyber trooper team to monitor social media critical of her.
He also said Rosmah gave him RM100,000 a month from 2012 to 2018 to sustain the team in order to respond to negative reports about her.
Rizal said he had also engaged 30 people to carry out propaganda work through Facebook and these people were paid between RM1,500 and RM2,000 each every month.
The witness said it was normal for politicians and political parties to engage cyber troopers to promote their agenda or propaganda online.
“Rosmah gave me RM100,000 in cash every month to fund the cyber troopers but I do not know where the funds came from,” he said.
Rizal said he did not issue or obtain receipts from the cyber troopers.
The witness also dismissed Jagjit’s suggestion that he had pocketed some of the allocation.
Rizal said it was a subjective assessment that he engaged third parties to shore up Rosmah’s public reputation after having failed in his role as her media liaison officer.
Jagjit: You engaged them as you did not do a good job as media liaison officer for the accused.
Rizal: That is something subjective.
Jagjit: You also failed in your duty because you were busy soliciting money for your foundation and to upkeep your lavish lifestyle.
Rizal: Disagree.
Rosmah, 69, is charged with three counts of corruption for allegedly soliciting RM187.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin as an inducement to help the company secure the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project in rural Sarawak schools.
She is also accused of receiving bribes amounting to RM6.5 million from Saidi between 2016 and 2017.
Earlier this year, the prosecution withdrew the charge against Rizal for soliciting and receiving bribes for himself and Rosmah.
The hearing before judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan continues.
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