Najib was the embodiment of 1MDB, court told

KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) CEO has described Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the embodiment of the sovereign wealth fund, the High Court heard.

Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, 49, said there was no difference in his mind between the entity and the former prime minister.

"Whatever Najib wanted done, I needed to get it done. At that time, I was trying to reconcile what the 1MDB board wanted and 1MDB board of advisors chairperson (Najib) wanted.

"It did not exist in my mind that it was between 1MDB and Najib because 1MDB was Najib, and Najib was 1MDB," he said.

Shahrol said this when explaining the rush in signing the joint venture deal between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) during cross-examination by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah here on Thursday (Oct 24).

"It is important to set the context on why the decision on the PSI deal was done quickly and I bulldozed everything through. I believed this was what Najib wanted," he said.

Najib, 66, faces 25 charges in total - four for abuse of power that allegedly brought him financial benefit to the tune of RM2.3bil; and 21 for money laundering involving the same amount of money.

He faces imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the sum or value of the gratification if found guilty.

The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues this afternoon.