Day 30: 1MDB regained only some from US$2.2b owed by Petrosaudi - Shahrol
LIVE | The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged abuse of power and money laundering of 1MDB funds enters its 30th day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings...
LIVE | The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged abuse of power and money laundering of 1MDB funds enters its 30th day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- 1MDB regained only some from US$2.2b owed by Petrosaudi - Shahrol
- Bank Negara not informed of US$700 million diverted to Good Star
- 'You're part of a conspiracy to put Najib in compromised position'
- Board sought Najib's advice on investing in Project Suez - witness
- 1MDB-PetroSaudi JV a failure, Shahrol testifies
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5pm - Thank you for following our live report today.
Reporting by Hariz Mohd and Hidir Reduan Abdul Rashid. Photographs by Azneal Ishak. Social media updates by Ewe Linq Yenn.
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Court adjourns early
4.48pm: High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah allows proceedings to adjourn earlier today as lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has to attend an Azlan Shah Lecture event this evening.
Trial will resume tomorrow at 9.30am.
1MDB regained only some from US$2.2b owed by Petrosaudi - Shahrol
3.10pm - Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi testifies that the sovereign wealth fund only regained back hundreds of millions from the US$2.2 billion-plus owed by PetroSaudi.
He says this during cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (photo).
"Some money did come back in the order of magnitude of hundreds of millions, but not comfortable to say the figure," Shahrol says.
"Some of it was repatriated in the low hundreds of millions. Majority stuck in fund units. By that time, I had left 1MDB management," he added.
Proceedings resume after lunch
2.42pm - Court proceedings resume following the lunch break.
12.39pm - Proceedings adjourn for lunch and will resume at 2.30pm.
Bank Negara not informed of US$700 million diverted to Good Star
12.15pm - Bank Negara was not informed of the diversion of US$700 million to Jho Low-linked Good Star Ltd during a meeting between the central bank and representatives of 1MDB in mid-2010, former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi tells the court.
Shahrol admits to this during cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
It was reported that US$700 million was diverted from the US$1 billion meant for the 1MDB-PetroSaudi joint venture in 2009.
Shafee: Why was Bank Negara not informed about the US$700 million?
Shahrol: We (1MDB) were still under the impression that it (money) was remitted to PSI.
Shahrol also admits he thought at the time that Good Star was part of PSI.
Proceedings resume after a break
11.24am - Proceedings resume after a short break.
'You're part of a conspiracy to put Najib in compromised position'
10.56am - Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah likens former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi as being part of a conspiracy to put then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in a compromised position.
The lawyer tells the 9th witness this during cross-examination.
Shafee: You are like the Malay proverb "Cuba menegak benang basah", it is clear on your part in the conspiracy to put the PM (prime minister) in a compromised position.
Shahrol: I disagree.
Earlier, Shafee cross-examined Shahrol over the alleged fact that the minutes of July 21, 2010, meeting between Shahrol and Najib was already prepared beforehand by Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
Nik Faisal (photo) was the CEO of SRC International.
Shafee was grilling Shahrol over how it seemed that the minutes were already prepared earlier by Nik Faisal even before the meeting even transpired.
Proceedings then adjourn for a short break.
Board sought Najib's advice on investing in Project Suez - witness
10.38am - Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi testifies that the board sought Najib Abdul Razak's advice as chairperson of its board of advisors on investing in Project Suez.
He says this during cross-examination by lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
1MDB-PetroSaudi JV a failure, Shahrol testifies
9.53am - Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi agrees with lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that the 40:60 1MDB-PetroSaudi joint venture was a failure.
Najib steps into the dock as proceedings begin
9.50am - Najib Abdul Razak steps into the dock as proceedings begin.
Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who is set to cross-examine former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, is seen sitting in the witness stand.
9.30am - Najib Abdul Razak enters the High Court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery to await proceedings to begin.
Also seen in court is lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram and other members of the prosecution team, as well as members of the former prime minister's defence team.
The 30th day of Najib Abdul Razak's RM2.28 billion 1MDB trial today will be the first this week to have extended sessions from 9.30am to 6pm.
The extended sessions will apply as well to hearing dates from Wednesday to Thursday this week, as well as Monday to Thursday next week.
This gives more opportunity to the former prime minister's defence team to cross-examine former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
The accused's lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has been subjecting the key 9th prosecution witness to heavy questioning since Oct 7.
Yesterday, Shahrol testified among others that despite having 40-percent ownership of the joint-venture company (JVCo) with Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Limited, 1MDB was denied access to information and its requests for the JVCo to hold board meetings were rebuffed by the latter which held the 60 percent ownership.
The trial yesterday also saw sparks fly when lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram applied for sanction be imposed on Najib over alleged abuse of the accused's medical certificate (MC) to purportedly skip proceedings on Thursday last week, to which Shafee countered that the MC was warranted due to the painful condition of his client's eye allergy.
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