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KUALA LUMPUR: The defense in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial has concluded a 40-day cross-examination of former company CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
Attorney Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today concluded the cross-examination of Shahrol, who has been on the witness stand since September 23, 2019.
The prosecution will call Shahrol’s successor, Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, as the next witness on September 7.
Asked by Shafee today on how many “talking points” he had received from Low Taek Jho during his five years as CEO, Shahrol estimated that he had received about 100 of them, sent via email and Blackberry Messenger (BBM). .
Shahrol added that Low had told him to destroy talking points in 2015 when 1MDB became a controversial topic.
Asked by Shafee why he had never verified or verified Low’s alleged instructions with Najib, the witness said he believed Low had a mandate to carry out the prime minister’s instructions.
“In my opinion, the standard for keeping Jho’s participation ‘low-key’ and discussing talking point topics with the board of directors has been established since 2009,” added Shahrol.
He also told the court that when Low informed him to destroy the talking points, he did not raise his suspicions.
“I took in good faith that I was protecting the interests of the prime minister and that coincided with the actions of other people,” Shahrol said.
Shafee: Would you agree if I suggested to you that Jho Low was the shadow director of 1MDB and was overseeing the board of directors through you?
Shahrol: I do not agree. Jho was acting at the behest of the shareholder (Najib). In my opinion, these instructions come from the shareholder. Later, the cycle was completed when Jho provided us with the formal documents whenever we needed him to sign them. “
The witness told the court that during his five years as executive director, he felt he needed to carry out instructions to carry out his role as a member of the “PM team to move the country forward.” Shahrol, however, said that no one threatened to carry out the instructions.
He was appointed CEO in 2009 when 1MDB was known as the Terengganu Investment Authority. He left the company to join the Delivery and Performance Management Unit in 2013.
Shahrol denied having “reached an agreement with enforcement agencies” to testify against Najib and evade criminal prosecution.
“My passport was never taken from me and this year I was allowed to travel abroad. I do not agree with his suggestion (from Shafee) that I was an accomplice of Jho, ”he said, responding to Shafee’s claim that he was a suspect.
Noting that Low, along with Goldman Sachs senior bankers and former 1MDB general counsel Loo Ai Swan, had been indicted here, Shafee said: “He appears to be confident that he will not be the next defendant.”
In response, Shahrol said that he had heard of the charges against him, but insisted that he had not committed a crime.
“There is a Malay language, ‘berani kerana benar,'” added Shahrol.
Najib is on trial on 25 counts of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds in the amount of RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing continues before Superior Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Before the hearing was over, Assistant Attorney Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed requested the defense to remove Shahrol for further cross-examination, as ad-hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram had raised new issues during the re-examination.
Sequerah said she wanted to go ahead with the next witness on Monday and suggested to the defense that they could make the same request another time.
“I hope they don’t take it as a rejection,” he said, adding that Shahrol was subject to withdrawal.
