INTERVIEW | Almost 10 years since the creation of 1MDB, a global investigation has established that businessperson Low Taek Jho and former Aabar executives Khadem Abdullah al-Qubaisi and Mohamed Badawy al-Husseiny were among the key movers of an alleged international money laundering scheme.

Interestingly, the same three figures emerged before the creation of 1MDB, but little attention was paid to them during that time.

One point of convergence was during Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's (ADCB) purchase of a 24.9 percent stake in RHB Capital Bhd in 2008, and subsequent sale of the same stake to Aabar Investments PJS (Aabar) in 2011.

Coincidentally, current 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy, who was hired by ADCB two months after the stake purchase, was involved in disposing the RHB Capital shares to Aabar. Arul Kanda joined 1MDB in 2015.

At that time, Qubaisi was the managing director of International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic), the parent company of Aabar, while Husseiny was the CEO of Aabar.

Both men have been accused by the US Department of Justice of setting up offshore entities with names mirroring Aabar, but which were unrelated to Ipic, in order to facilitate the alleged laundering of 1MDB funds.

How does Low, better known as Jho Low, come into the picture? In an interview The Star published on July 30, 2010, Jho Low boasted that it was he who recommended purchasing the stake in RHB Capital to ADCB.

"I had also been asked by the previous chairman of ADCB for my input and opinion on RHB Bhd and its potential, which I was very bullish on for the long-term.

"ADCB eventually invested a significant amount in the Malaysian bank. That is one of the key investments Abu Dhabi made in Malaysia, which continues to show that Abu Dhabi is investing in Malaysia for the long-term," Jho Low (photo) was quoted as saying.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Arul Kanda admitted that all three men were known to him since before he joined 1MDB.

However, he stressed that his acquaintance with Jho Low was merely due to the latter's extensive interest and contacts, while Qubaisi and Husseiny were clients of ADCB, where he had worked.

"Jho Low was the businessman who had, you know, extensive interest and contacts in the Middle East. I met him at that time and subsequent to that, he was also in Abu Dhabi, where I was based.

"We met a few times, he had some proposals and things like that. So, that was the extent of my meeting and getting to know him in 2011 and 2012," Arul Kanda said.

'Jho Low an interesting character'

However, Arul Kanda stressed that he and Jho Low did not do business together.

"We never actually did any business together, for my bank never lent any money to Jho Low.

"You know, none of the proposals went beyond that stage, and then after that, we never kept in touch anymore," he said.

Asked what he thought of Jho Low from his meetings, Arul Kanda described the billionaire as an "interesting character".

"To say the least, very articulate, quite charismatic and you know, he had lots of ideas. I think I would comment on that part of his ability."

At the time, Arul Kanda was executive vice-president and head of investment banking at ADCB.

He said he was "headhunted" by ADCB while he was working as the head of Islamic Finance Solutions Barclays Capital in Dubai, a position he held since September 2006.

He began his new job at ADCB in July 2008, two months after the RHB deal, and was based in Abu Dhabi.

Subsequently, Arul Kanda was appointed by ADCB to sit on the board of RHB Capital in 2009. At age 33, he was the youngest ever board member.

It was also during Arul Kanda's time at ADCB that he came to know Qubaisi (photo) and Husseiny.

"IPIC, which was a double-A rated company, 100 percent owned by the Abu Dhabi government, with around US$60 billion of assets, was a client of ours, as was Aabar.

"So, yes, I knew Qubaisi and Husseiny, but in the context of them being the managing director of IPIC and CEO of Aabar," he said.

Trio singled out by DOJ

While Arul Kanda was not involved in the purchase of the RHB stake by ADCB, he was involved in the sale of the stake to Aabar.

Asked if Low, who had recommended the purchase to ADCB in 2008, was likewise involved in the sale of the stake in 2011, Arul Kanda said he could not speculate on the matter.

"I can't speculate because I am not aware of that, because I can only speak from the perspective of ADCB," he said.

Arul Kanda said both ADCB and potential buyers, including Aabar, had dealt through financial advisers.

"In the end, Aabar's proposal was the best proposal from ADCB's perspective, in terms of value.

"We managed to sell the share in RHB at the price of RM10.80, and we managed to get a profit of around US$400 million, so I think I did a pretty good deal in the sale process," he said.

Qubaisi was sacked from IPIC in April 2015. Husseiny (photo) was fired by Aabar four months later.

In April 2016, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates central bank had instructed that the assets of both Qubaisi and Husseiny be frozen.

Read more: 'Stolen' 1MDB funds: The DOJ lawsuit revisited

The DOJ believes at least US$4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB and laundered through the global financial system, including in the US.

It claims this money was used for the benefit of Low, Qubaisi, Husseiny, ‘Malaysian Official 1’, 1MDB officials and their associates.

It is seeking to seize around US$1.7 billion in assets allegedly acquired using money misappropriated from 1MDB.

However, Arul Kanda stresses that the DOJ filings are unproven allegations.

"Let me be clear that the DOJ may be right, they may be wrong, I do not know, but the fact is a lawsuit has been filed and any advocate will make his case in the strongest way.

"You still need that to go through a court process, the hearing, and there still needs to be a defence, and then there needs to be a decision. Only when the judge decides can you say something that you allege is a fact or not," he said.

This interview was jointly conducted by Andrew Ong, Kow Gah Chie, Nigel Aw and Steven Gan.

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