Judge Zaini Mazlan said: “The accused’s defence was a bare denial devoid of credible evidence.” It did not create a reasonable doubt, Zaini added in his 116-page judgment made available to the media this evening.

Zaini said the prosecution had, however, succeeded in proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt in respect of all three charges.

Earlier, in stating that Rosmah’s defence carried no weight, the prosecution had said Rosmah, the wife of Najib Razak, was crying foul that she was the victim of a conspiracy.

She claimed the culprits included her former aide, Rizal Mansor, former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin and his former business partner, Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah.

The court found that she had solicited RM187.5 million from Saidi through Rizal as an inducement to help the company secure the RM1.25 billion project.

She received a RM5 million bribe from Saidi, through Rizal, at Seri Perdana in Putrajaya on Dec 20, 2016, and received another RM1.5 million from Saidi at Jalan Langgak Duta on Sept 7, 2017.

Zaini sentenced Rosmah to a total of 30 years’ jail and a RM970 million fine, in default 10 years’ jail, for the three charges, but ordered that the sentences run concurrently.

He said if Rosmah failed to pay the fine, she would have to serve another 10 years in prison upon completing her initial 10-year sentence.