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KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Najib Razak was the man who ran the program at 1Malaysia Development Berhad and the real shareholder was the government, the former 1MDB CEO told the High Court today.
Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, 47, said that while the 1MDB board had the power to deliberate and make decisions, it would all come down to Najib, as he had the power of veto.
He said this when referring to Article 117 of the 1MDB Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A), by Najib’s lead attorney, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah at the Najib trial.
Najib is on trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power for alleged 1MDB funds worth RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
Article 117, among others, states that any critical matter, including the removal of directors, financial commitments and changes in the senior management team, would require the approval of the prime minister.
The lawyer asked the 10th prosecution witness if he had ever come across an occasion where Najib had invoked article 117, to which the witness replied: “What do you mean by ‘invoked’?”
Shafee: As in, he used article 117 issues to “relax” his powers.
Hazem: No.
Shafee: Can you say with certainty that Najib, as then prime minister, never invoked Article 117?
Hazem: Not in that way. From what I understand, critical matters had to be approved by Najib.
Shafee also asked the witness if he knew that Najib was playing many roles during that time, such as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB board of advisers, and Article 117 specifically relates to Najib’s role as then prime minister. .
Hazem: Regardless of the “hat” Datuk Seri Najib wore, his approval was required.
Shafee: So would you consider that he has the power to decide?
Hazem: Yes.
Shafee: That is the wrong way to do it. I tell you that your interpretation is wrong.
Hazem: I do not agree with you.
On another issue, Hazem agreed with counsel’s suggestion that the RM801 million commission paid to Goldman Sachs for the acquisition of 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited was “very high.”
The witness also agreed with Shafee’s suggestion that there were other cheaper means of obtaining financing.
Shafee: What other means could have been used to obtain cheaper financing?
Hazem: They could have conducted a competitive bidding process between the banks.
Shafee: But there was no bidding process.
Hazem: I don’t think there was. Instead, 1MDB could have used a government guarantee or raised funds with local banks.
Najib, 67, faces four counts of using his position to obtain bribes totaling RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
Trial continues before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
