KUALA LUMPUR: The reading of a key witness statement in 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) US$5.6bil suit against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and five others hit a speedbump at the High Court after lawyers objected to parts of the testimony.
Former 1MDB chief executive officer and managing director Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, the fourth plaintiff witness, was reading his 168-page witness statement when lawyers raised an objection.
Shahrol was recounting his involvement with the Terengganu Investment Authority and 1MDB, including dealings involving fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, when he was stopped.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah objected to a paragraph in the statement that mentioned both Najib and Low.
“(This) conveyed a message that Jho Low was Najib’s proxy. Unless he hears this from Najib himself, he (Shahrol) is giving the impression that it was Jho Low who claimed as such. That is hearsay,” Muhammad Shafee said.
Lawyer GK Ganesan, who represents former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jim, raised a similar objection and said he would address the matter in his submissions.
1MDB lawyer Nathalie Ker said the plaintiffs would respond to the objections in their submissions next week.
Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus said he would disregard the disputed paragraph.
Earlier, 1MDB dropped its claims against former chief financial officer Radhi Mohamad, 55, after both parties agreed to settle the matter amicably.
1MDB lawyer Lee Shih said the parties had agreed to the terms of a consent order to be recorded by the court.
“Under the consent order, the suit against Radhi would be discontinued, with no liberty to file afresh,” Lee said.
Radhi’s lawyer Datuk M. Reza Hassan confirmed that the parties had agreed to the consent terms.
JC Mohamad Redzuan then recorded the consent order, removing Radhi as a defendant in the suit.
The civil suit was filed on May 7, 2021, by 1MDB and its subsidiaries 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, 1MDB Energy Ltd, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd and Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd (formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Ltd).
The defendants named in the suit are Najib; former 1MDB finance officer Terrence Geh Choh Heng; former executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee; former chief investment officer Vincent Beng Huat Koh; former investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jim; and former SRC International Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants had committed breaches of trust and fiduciary duties, abused their powers and conspired to misappropriate 1MDB funds. The hearing continues on Monday.
