PUTRAJAYA: A former investigating officer in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case told the High Court that he did not recommend pressing charges against several former management staff from the company.
Former Senior Asst Comm R. Rajagopal testified at the 1MDB trial involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak that he did not recommend that the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) charge former 1MDB CEOs Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, as well as former CFOs Azmi Tahir and Radhi Mohamad.
The public prosecutor eventually did not proceed to file charges against them, he said when questioned by Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah here yesterday.
Rajagopal, on the other hand, stated that charges were filed against several individuals who could not be located in order to obtain arrest warrants and apply for an Interpol red notice.
Muhammad Shafee: Did you receive any instructions to charge Jasmine Loo?
Rajagopal: For Jasmine, she absconded from Malaysia at that point. To ensure her arrest, I had to recommend a charge under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001. The public prosecutor agreed. A red notice was obtained for Jasmine.
Loo, a former 1MDB general counsel, was charged in absentia in December 2018 when she was accused of laundering US$5mil and US$999,975, being proceeds of unlawful activity received into the account of River Dee International SA (BVI) at Falcon Private Bank AG in Zurich.
She returned to Malaysia in July 2023 and has since become a prosecution witness.
Others who were charged in absentia included fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, Low’s aide Tan Kim Loong, former 1MDB executive director Tang Keng Chee and ex-1MDB official Geh Choh Heng.
Rajagopal said that 1MDB investigations are still ongoing until today, even after his retirement in 2023.
He said the police are still waiting to get some overseas documents for the purpose of investigation.
On Oct 30 last year, Najib was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence on four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1MDB’s funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah today.
