1MDB heads accused of obeying Jho Low, not board of directors
PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s legal team has gone on the attack against the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) top management, especially former CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
The 1MDB top management had obeyed instructions of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho instead of the company’s board of directors, the former prime minister’s defence team told the High Court in his RM2.28bil corruption trial.
Lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin said that, despite Shahrol Azral’s serious misconduct and questionable reliability in leading the company, the prosecution expected the court to accept his evidence as a key prosecution witness.
Some of Shahrol Azral’s alleged misconduct, as contended by the defence, included hiding information from the 1MDB board of directors and the Finance Minister; engaging in clandestine correspondence with Low, also known as Jho Low; and signing minutes of “meetings” with Najib that he (Shahrol Azral) was aware had not actually occurred.
Shahrol Azral had claimed the deals in the company had “Najib’s blessings” through Low, which the defence rebutted as entirely based on hearsay.
The defence further contended that Shahrol Azral took instructions directly from Low through secret correspondence, which he later destroyed, and left key negotiations with Goldman Sachs and International Petroleum Investment Co entirely to the fugitive businessman.
“Shahrol Azral had also signed the agreement to raise US$1.75bil in indebtedness without reading the full document, relying only on the signing page,” Wan Azwan said in his submissions yesterday.
Wan Azwan also accused Jasmine Loo, the former general counsel of 1MDB, of not being the distressed individual she had presented herself as.
“She failed to conduct a simple corporate search on Petrosaudi International Ltd, showing that it was not an oversight on her part but an overt act.
“She was also a former fugitive who once fled to Myanmar and was supported by none other than Jho Low himself,” he said.
Najib is facing 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 abuse of power offences were allegedly committed at an AmIslamic Bank Bhd branch on Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
The money laundering offences were allegedly committed at the same location between March 22 and Aug 30, 2013.
Najib has been serving his prison sentence since Aug 23, 2022, following his conviction in a separate criminal trial for the misappropriation of RM42mil from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
The submissions resume on Monday before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
