Jho Low was very close to Rosmah, says Najib's former aide

KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was particularly close to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or better known as Jho Low, the High Court here heard.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak's former special officer Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin said the former prime minister's wife would always contact Low, but he was unsure as to the details of the conversations.

Amhari, who had worked with Najib for some 10 years, said Low became close to the couple when he got to know Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz (Rosmah' son) when he was a teenager.

"Rosmah had no objections to Jho Low getting close to them. He was young, but he had charisma and incredible power.

"Every order given by Jho Low would be undertaken by everyone. He was like the unofficial advisor to Najib for many matters, including politics and funds received by Najib," he said before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on the third day of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial on Tuesday (Sept 3).

In September 2008 when Amhari reported for work as the special officer to Najib, who was then deputy prime minister, he recalled Jho Low sending him a text message saying: "Bro, I heard you are in TPM Office, congratulations and we will be closely in touch".

Amhari was a Bank Negara scholar who studied economics at the University of Warwick.

He joined the central bank's economy department after graduating in 1999 and was then seconded to the Economic Planning Unit under the Prime Minister's Department in 2006, serving under former minister Datuk Seri Mohd Effendi Norwawi at the time.

Amhari returned to Bank Negara in early 2008 and two months later, he was contacted by Najib's special officer Datuk Wan Shihab to attend an interview to be Najib's special officer.