KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi should have never entertained instructions by Low Taek Jho, a fugitive businessman who held no position in the sovereign wealth fund, the High Court heard.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak testified that as the then CEO of 1MDB, Shahrol bore the responsibility to request formal, written approval from him (Najib) under Article 117 of the Memorandum and Article of Association (M&A) if an endorsement was necessary.
"Without such written approval, no action can be deemed authorised by me under that provision," he said.
Najib was responding to claims by Shahrol who had previously testified that he executed instructions and action plans from Low (also known as Jho Low) as he believed it came with Najib's approval and blessings.
This, Najib said, was "fundamentally flawed".
"My response is that Shahrol never verified any of these so-called talking points or action plans with me; he simply relied on representations made to him by Jho Low. It was he and the management who presented and executed those actions and talking points following Jho Low’s instructions to them, so naturally they were carried out, but not due to any supposed endorsement on my part," Najib said in his 525-page witness statement here on Tuesday (Dec 3)
The former prime minister also questioned Shahrol's use of his personal email instead of his official 1MDB account in his communication with Low.
He said this reflected Shahrol's awareness that the exchanges with Low were inappropriate.
"If Shahrol truly believed Jho Low’s instructions were legitimate and confidential, he should have used his official 1MDB email account rather than risking the use of an unauthorised personal account.
"Additionally, if he genuinely believed that Jho Low’s instructions had my endorsement, he should have copied me on those emails and preserved all such communications as proof of my supposed involvement or at least to demonstrate that he was actively following through each and every purported ‘instruction’ by Datuk Seri Najib. He never did," Najib said.
Najib is facing four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1MDB's funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
The charges were framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.
If he is convicted at the end of the defence case, Najib will face imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The hearing continues this afternoon before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
