KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi told the High Court on Monday (Aug 17) that he did not know why the company dropped him from its USD5.64bil civil suit.
The 56-year-old, testifying as the fourth plaintiff witness, said he did not strike any deal with the government to be removed from the suit and was not given any explanation for the decision.
He revealed this during cross-examination by lawyer G.K. Ganesan, who represents former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jin, the seventh defendant in the suit.
Ganesan: You were originally sued in this action?
Shahrol Azral: Correct.
When asked, Shahrol Azral confirmed that his name was later removed from the suit, but said he had no idea why.
When Ganesan questioned if he signed any consent judgment with 1MDB after being removed as a defendant, Shahrol Azral said he had not entered into any such agreement with the company.
He also denied suggestions by Nur Syafinaz Vani Abdullah, lawyer for the fifth defendant, former director of investments and chief investment officer, Vincent Beng Huat Koh, that he was trying to shift blame to everyone else while clearing himself in the multibillion-ringgit sovereign wealth fund scandal.
Earlier, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told the court the defence needed four days to cross-examine Shahrol Azral.
The other lawyers representing the remaining defendants said they would each need at least two hours to do so.
The court then proceeded with Shahrol Azral’s cross-examination by counsel for the other defendants.
1MDB and its subsidiaries – 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited and Global Diversified Investment Company Limited, formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Limited – filed the civil suit on May 7, 2021.
They named former prime minister Najib, 1MDB’s former finance director Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee, former general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, Vincent Beng, former chief financial officer Radhi Mohamad, Kelvin Tan, and former chief investment officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, as defendants.
Last week, 1MDB dropped its civil suit against Radhi, with no liberty to refile. The company had previously removed Jasmine from the case as well.
The writ of summons stated that the plaintiffs, among other things, accused the defendants of breach of trust, breach of statutory duty, abuse of power and conspiracy to misappropriate 1MDB funds.
The trial before Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus resumes on Aug 18. – Bernama
