No AG instruction to charge 1MDB ex-CEOs: Najib's witness

Summary

• Retired police investigating officer R Rajagopal testifies there was no instruction from the attorney-general to charge former 1MDB CEOs Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Hazem Abd Rahman.

• Najib Abdul Razak's defence team contends that the accused had neither knowledge nor involvement in wrongdoing at 1MDB.

1MDB TRIAL | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's defence witness R Rajagopal testified that there was no instruction from the attorney-general (AG) to charge 1MDB's former CEOs Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Hazem Abd Rahman in the criminal court.

The retired police investigating officer told the High Court in Putrajaya today what happened after he sent the investigation papers to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

During examination-in-chief by lead defence counsel Shafee Abdullah, Rajagopal gave oral evidence over his investigation into members of 1MDB's management under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

The provision deals with the offence of criminal breach of trust by a public servant or agent.

Shafee: Until today, did you receive instruction (from AG) concerning a decision on whether to charge Shahrol?

Rajagopal: None.

Shafee: In regards to Hazem, did you get instructions to charge him?

Rajagopal: None.

The retired investigator also testified that he received no instruction from the AG to charge 1MDB's former chief financial officers Azmi Tahir and Radhi Mohamad.

In the course of Najib's ongoing RM2.27 billion abuse of power and money laundering trial, Najib's defence team contended that all wrongdoings were solely masterminded by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and members of the sovereign wealth fund's management.

Among them are Shahrol (above), Hazem, Azmi, and Radhi, as well as 1MDB's former general counsel Jasmine Loo.

Incidentally, these former senior 1MDB members were among the key witnesses the prosecution called to testify against the former finance minister and the Minister of Finance Incorporated-owned company’s board of advisers chairperson.

Ordered to enter defence

The 1MDB charges against Najib are for alleged abuse of power under Section 23 (1) of the MACC Act 2009 and alleged money laundering under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

On Oct 30 last year, trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered Najib to enter his defence over four abuses of power and 21 money laundering charges involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB.

The court ruled that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing a prima facie (answerable) case against Najib due to the strength of some 50 witness testimonies, which included Shahrol, Hazem, Azmi, Radhi, and Loo.

Between early December last year and late January this year, Najib spent 26 days on the witness stand trying to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.

The accused contended that he had neither knowledge nor involvement in wrongdoing at 1MDB.

The former Pekan MP also relied on the defence that he was promised a donation by the late Saudi monarch King Abdullah during a meeting in Riyadh in 2010.

‘Ex-CEO claimed seeing Low with Najib’

Meanwhile, during Shafee’s questioning, Rajagopal recalled Shahrol claiming to have seen Low and Najib together.

The retired investigating officer was recalling the statement he had recorded from Shahrol as part of the investigation into 1MDB.

Rajagopal said Shahrol claimed Low was involved in various transactions involving 1MDB since the fund’s inception in 2009, and the fund’s former CEO expressed belief that Low’s directions came from the ex-premier. 

The former police officer, however, noted that Shahrol never specifically said that Najib gave the order for transactions linked to 1MDB. 

The trial before Sequerah resumes tomorrow. 

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib prosecuted.

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