Najib's daughter appointed to Matrade board

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s daughter, Nooryana Najwa, has been appointed to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) board of directors.

Announcing it in a Facebook post last night, Matrade chairperson Reezal Merican Naina Merican said the appointment letter was presented at the board of directors meeting yesterday.

However, he did not state how long her appointment is or the reason why she was appointed to the board of the government agency.

Malaysiakini is contacting Reezal and Nooryana for further details.

Reezal said Nooryana (above, right) yesterday took an anti-corruption oath alongside two other board members, Hairil Yahri Yaacob and Mastura Abdul Karim.

“Congratulations to Nooryana on her appointment to the Matrade board of directors,” he said.

International qualifications

Nooryana, 36, has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Politics and Foreign Policy from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

She also has a Master’s in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

After completing her undergraduate studies, she interned at global equity firm TPG for 11 months before being hired as a full-time analyst at TPG Hong Kong.

Leissner connection

In 2022, Nooryana revealed that controversial banker Tim Leissner helped her secure the TPG internship where she did tasks like preparing PowerPoint presentations, photocopying and making coffee, among others.

The Puteri Umno exco member said she worked in investor relations with TPG Hong Kong for one and a half years until August 2014, when she left to further her studies.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she returned to Malaysia to serve as a management associate for eight months at the Finance Ministry start-up incubator Cradle Fund before starting her MBA at Wharton.

At the time, her father was finance minister.

Her LinkedIn profile does not detail other work experience.

Her statement in 2022 about interning in TPG was in response to Leissner’s court testimony in the US that he had secured jobs for Najib’s children in multinational companies in return for a lucrative deal with the Malaysian government.

Leissner was the Goldman Sachs banker involved in the 1MDB deal and was arrested in June 2018. He was fined US$43 million.

He avoided jail time by cooperating with US authorities and prosecutors.

Najib started serving a 12-year jail sentence for corruption over the same scandal in August 2022.

The Pardons Board in February halved his prison sentence.

Responding to the Pardons Board decision at the time, Nooryana maintained that her father was innocent and that the family was disappointed he did not receive a full pardon.

Najib will be released on Aug 23, 2028, while the fine was also reduced from RM201 million to RM50 million.

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