Najib had ultimate power in 1MDB, ex-CFO tells court

KUALA LUMPUR • Then Prime Minister Najib Razak wielded "ultimate power" in 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) when it came to the state wealth fund's decision-making, the Kuala Lumpur High Court was told on Thursday.

The fund's former chief financial officer (CFO) Azmi Tahir testified that Najib's power was in line with Article 117 of the Memorandum & Articles of Association of the company, where every important decision must be under the instruction or the approval of the prime minister.

In his 127-page witness statement to the High Court, Mr Azmi, 48, said: "Najib is the person with the ultimate power in every decision, particularly involving investment, financial decision and national interest." His testimony echoed those previously given by former 1MDB chief executive officers Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, 51, and Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, 49.

Mr Azmi was the prosecution's 12th witness in Najib's trial. The former prime minister is facing four charges of abusing his position to obtain gratification totalling RM2.28 billion (S$741 million) in 1MDB funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same money.

Najib, 68, was sentenced in July last year to 12 years in prison for graft and money laundering in a separate case linked to a former 1MDB unit.

He is out on bail pending an appeal, and is believed to be in Singapore visiting his daughter who is expected to give birth to her second child.

Mr Azmi told the court that when he was CFO, there were "confidential moves" that were planned by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, with the instructions and "blessings" of Najib. "Selected people were chosen and arranged at the highest management of 1MDB and the board of directors to ensure that these moves and backdoor instructions were carried out," he added. The witness said he was one of those who had "worked in silos".

"Low told me that all assignments were on a need-to-know basis," Mr Azmi said.

He said the instructions were known only by people inside the layered system, coordinated by Low and Najib's former principal private secretary, Datuk Azlin Alias.

"The instructions I received from them (Low and Azlin) were in the form of a mandate from Najib as the prime minister. Therefore, the officers in the layered system have to follow Low's instructions because his instructions are Najib's instructions, in line with Article 117," he added.

Mr Azmi, previously from Deloitte, began working at 1MDB as the CFO on June 1, 2012. He told the court he was introduced to Low, who was "Najib's 1MDB adviser", at a meeting arranged by Mr Azlin, who died in a 2015 helicopter crash.

The meeting was at Low's office in Kuala Lumpur City Centre complex in June 2012, after Mr Azmi joined 1MDB. Mr Azlin did not attend the meeting.

Mr Azmi said: "I was told in this meeting that all the instructions from Azlin and Low were mandates from Najib and I only needed to follow them.

"After the meeting, I confirmed with Azlin whether what Low said was true and applicable. Azlin confirmed what Low told me.

"From then on, I would carry out any instructions from Azlin and Low because I believed those instructions were mandates from Najib."

During the testimony, Najib's lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed raised objections over Mr Azmi's statement several times, saying that the witness' testimony was "hearsay".

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said the court would deal with the objections during the oral submission stage of the trial.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK