'I never pressured 1MDB board to enter joint venture with Petrosaudi'

1MDB TRIAL | Najib Abdul Razak testified in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that he never issued direction or exerted pressure on 1MDB's board of directors to enter a joint venture with Petrosaudi International Limited (PSI).

The former prime minister clarified about receiving a telephone call from fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), who happened to be in a 1MDB board meeting on Sept 26, 2009.

Najib said Low told him that 1MDB management was in discussions on the proposed PSI joint venture and that the businessperson was attending the fund's board meeting as a representative of the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Najib said Low asked him whether he could speak to 1MDB board chairperson Mohd Bakke Salleh to relay the general context of the government-to-government initiative between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, and he agreed.

Najib said Low then handed the telephone to Bakke who was at the board meeting, and he (Najib) told Bakke to get the board to firm up a decision.

"It is important to clarify that my purpose in this brief exchange was not to direct or pressure the board to participate in the joint venture with PSI.

"Rather, my intention was to encourage Bakke to consider the proposal carefully, taking into consideration Jho Low's insights as PSI's representative, and to ensure that all necessary due diligence was conducted.

"At that time, I was under the impression that Jho Low would remain in the meeting to provide a detailed briefing on PSI's perspective, why would he attend the board meeting otherwise?

"However, I only later discovered during this trial that although the minutes reflected Jho Low's attendance, Jho Low did not stay for the meeting and did not deliver the briefing t the board as intended," Najib testified to rebut the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering case against him.

The accused denied the brief exchange with Bakke was to compel or influence the 1MDB board to take part in the joint venture, adding that he merely wanted to ensure the board would make an informed decision after hearing from PSI's representatives and conducting due diligence.

Following the inking of the joint venture agreement in 2009, US$700 of 1MDB's funds meant for the joint venture was siphoned to offshore entity Good Star Limited, which was linked to Low.

The trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.

Enter defence

On Oct 30, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered Najib to enter his defence over four abuse of power and 21 money laundering charges involving RM2.27 billion of funds from 1MDB.

Sequerah ruled that the prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie (answerable) case against Najib over the Minister of Finance Incorporated’s (MOF Inc) wholly owned company.

The judge ruled that Najib had to answer the charges due to the strength of the various 50 witness testimonies during the prosecution stage of proceedings that lasted six years since the trial began in 2019. The accused was first charged in 2018.

Najib is serving a six-year jail sentence over a separate abuse of power case involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

He is also facing an ongoing criminal trial for the RM27 million SRC money laundering case.

Previously, Najib was acquitted in another criminal case involving 1MDB’s audit report.

He was also granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on Nov 27 in the RM6.6 billion International Petroleum Investment Company criminal breach of trust case.

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