MOF officers had direct access to Najib, ex-Treasury sec-gen testifies

1MDB TRIAL | Former treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah testified that his subordinates had direct communication with then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in relation to 1MDB.

The 42nd prosecution witness told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that he disagreed with a previous testimony by former Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) officer Siti Zauyah Md Desa that she had no direct access to Najib to air concerns on 1MDB.

Irwan (above) was replying during cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah over testimony by Siti Zauyah and other MOF officers that seem to indicate nobody there was able to ask Najib about issues with the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

“Not exactly. The other officers, sometimes the prime minister (Najib) called them directly, the prime minister and finance minister (Najib), so anybody can approach (Najib),” Irwan testified during the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against former finance minister Najib.

The witness said that as then treasury secretary-general, he had also given advice to Najib, which at times in an unofficial capacity, whether at the then premier’s office or even home.

Irwan contended he needed to “balance” as he then wore “two hats”, one as then treasury secretary-general and the other as a member of 1MDB’s board of advisors (BOA). 1MDB is fully owned by MOF Inc.

“It is a very delicate position. You need to protect the country as treasury secretary-general and protect the company (1MDB) as the board of advisors.

“You need balancing, the right approach where it benefits the company and the nation. It is a delicate position,” the witness told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Irwan added that as far as he knew, the 1MDB BOA never had any meetings at all as the fund’s board of directors never sought any advice from it (BOA).

In previous proceedings, Irwan testified that he received over RM500,000 in allowances for his role as a BOA member as well as chairperson of 1MDB between 2013 and 2018.

Proceedings are set to continue this afternoon. The trial is also scheduled for Dec 5 to 8 this year.

Back on Sept 27, Siti Zauyah testified that it is not a practice for civil servants to bypass their superiors (Irwan) and speak directly to Najib, to air concerns over 1MDB.

She was replying while being cross-examined by Shafee on why she could not just have told Najib directly about any issues at 1MDB.

Power abuse and money laundering

Najib is on trial for four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB.

The Pekan MP was alleged to have committed four counts of corruption at AmIslamic Bank Berhad’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.

On the 21 money laundering charges, Najib is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.

The prosecution contended that the wrongdoing at 1MDB was carried out by businessperson Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, and several others with the blessing of Najib.

The accused’s defence team, however, claimed that the ex-prime minister had no knowledge of the crime perpetrated at 1MDB and that the embezzlement was solely masterminded by Low and other members of the fund’s management.

The BN advisory chairperson is serving a 12-year jail sentence after the Federal Court on Aug 23 dismissed his appeal against the RM42 million SRC International corruption case conviction.

Initially a subsidiary of 1MDB, SRC later became fully owned by MOF Inc. Najib also used to be adviser emeritus to SRC.

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