KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Najib Razak should have directed former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi to cooperate with the Finance Ministry (MoF), the high court heard today.
Former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, 63, said Najib, who held various positions including prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of the 1MDB board of advisors at the time, should have been able to direct Shahrol in terms of furnishing documents in relation to the request for government guarantees (GG) to MoF officers.
Irwan repeatedly said that 1MDB management was not cooperative when it came to providing documents to the ministry and he did mention to the former prime minister that Shahrol was arrogant and kept making excuses, but Najib did not say anything in return.
He said this during cross-examination by Najib’s counsel Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed at the former Pekan MP’s trial involving the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion from 1MDB.
Wan Aizuddin: What did you expect the PM to do? What sort of directives was he supposed to issue (to Shahrol)? That he calls and tells Shahrol to cooperate?
Irwan: Yes. As well as for him (Shahrol) to provide all the documents requested by the MoF.
Earlier, Irwan gave an example of his encounter with 1MDB’s management when the sovereign wealth fund provided MoF with a letter of comfort (LoC), which looks like a GG.
“They approached us with an LoC equivalent to a GG. When my legal officers and I went through it, we discovered it was more like a GG, which needs to be tabled to the cabinet. We need a detailed proposal, which was not provided by 1MDB.
“We (MoF) told them we needed a detailed proposal but they ignored our request. They said they already briefed the then PM,” said Irwan.
Wan Aizuddin then suggested that Najib cannot be blamed for Shahrol and 1MDB’s management’s attitude, to which Irwan replied “ I am not sure how powerful 1MDB’s CEO was”.
Najib, 69, 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 on December 5. – Bernama, November 24, 2022
