KUALA LUMPUR – Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief financial officer (CFO) Azmi Tahir told the high court today that it was “not his place” to raise concerns about the strategic investment company’s financial decision even though he had concerns about it.
Azmi, 49, said he had never raised the issue to the 1MDB board of directors, because all decisions involving financial transactions had been decided for and duly authorised via the company’s Directors’ Circular Resolution (DCR).
He said this under cross-examination by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s counsel, Datuk Hariharan Tara Singh at the former prime minister’s trial over the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion in funds from 1MDB.
Hariharan questioned the 12th prosecution witness on why he did not exercise his role as 1MDB CFO and why he had instead taken the easy way out to reduce the financial decision-making process by way of DCR.
To this, Azmi said he is unable to answer the question as he was not involved in the DCR decision-making process and the question should be posed to former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo.
“I put it to you that ordinarily as the CFO, you should have raised the matters with the BOD?” Hariharan asked Azmi.
“Ordinarily yes, but 1MDB was not an ordinary company,” the latter replied.
The witness, however, disagreed with Hariharan’s suggestion that he agreed to “play ball” in the scheme by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) because he was rewarded with high pay as the 1MDB CFO.
The lawyer further questioned Azmi on how during his examination-in-chief, Azmi repeatedly said that whatever instructions that came from Najib’s former principal private secretary – the late Datuk Azlin Alias – or Jho Low were deemed as instructions from Najib.
“Did you ever verify with Datuk Seri Najib that instructions from arwah (late) Azlin came from him?” Hariharan asked.
“I didn’t verify. It is not my place to verify,” Azmi replied.
Najib, the MP for Pekan, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow. – Bernama, January 5, 2022
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