PUTRAJAYA: A former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chairman, who had formally known Datuk Seri Najib Razak for 40-odd years, says he did not have easy access to the then prime minister.
Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin told the High Court that he had a professional relationship with Najib but, despite their long history, he had to make an appointment if he wanted to have a meeting.
Che Lodin was testifying yesterday in the RM2.28bil 1MDB trial against Najib.
The prosecution had zeroed in on the nature of Che Lodin’s relationship with Najib during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar due to an arbitrary part in Che Lodin’s witness statement where he stated that he was not Najib’s proxy in 1MDB.
DPP Kamal Baharin: In your 211-page witness statement, you didn’t mention anything about your relationship with Najib. But suddenly you mentioned that you were not Najib’s proxy. Isn’t that odd?
Che Lodin: I have a professional relationship with him. To say, I’m close to Najib, no. I’ve known Najib for 40, 50 years. The relationship is on a formal basis. He was minister of defence when I was in Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).
The witness was CEO at LTAT for 34 years before stepping down in September 2018.
According to Che Lodin, a proxy was a person who took care of someone else’s interest, which was not the case with his position in 1MDB.
On his involvement with 1MDB, Che Lodin said he was first told he had been appointed as a member of the board of directors at the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) by former TIA CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi on Aug 11, 2009.
TIA later became 1MDB.
“Shahrol did inform me that my appointment as director of TIA was on Datuk Seri Najib’s advice. I did not verify with Datuk Seri (Najib),” he added.
On Oct 30 last year, Najib was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence on 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 hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Monday.
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