THE 1Malaysia Development Bhd trial enters its sixth day today, with the eighth witness, Najib Razak’s former special officer Amhari Effendi Nazaruddin, returning to the stand.  

When cross-examined by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah last Thursday, Amhari agreed with a suggestion that Low Taek Jho acted like a “puppet master” who controlled and manipulated those around him to do his bidding.

Amhari said he followed Low’s instructions because he was fearful of the “powers that be”, adding that felt his livelihood would be threatened by defying Low.

Ahmari testified last week that he was forced by Low to open a Singapore bank account.

Shafee called the testimony “a creation” of the witness’ imagination and further suggested that Amhari had, in fact, received US$800,000 in that account as a reward for previous work for the Penang-born businessman.

The lawyer also suggested that Amhari withheld other information from the trial, including a payment of US$200,000 from Low for the purchase of a home in Petaling Jaya.

Shafee further suggested that the witness was pressured by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to blame Najib. 

“I am putting it to you that your testimony in the last three days has been tailored and perhaps even coached by the MACC, in order to implicate my client because they threatened to prosecute you if you don’t agree to it,” Shafee said on Thursday. 

Amhari denied the suggestion.

Najib is on trial for four counts of power abuse to enrich himself by RM2.3 billion and 21 counts of laundering the same amount.

The 66-year-old is represented by a dozen lawyers, led by Shafee.

Gopal Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, leads the prosecution while Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah presides.

The Malaysian Insight brings you today’s proceedings live:

4.48pm: Shafee ends his cross-examination of the witness for the day and tells judge Sequerah that he will need the whole of tomorrow to continue his cross-examination of Amhari.

Sequerah adjourns the trial to 9.30am tomorrow.

4.40pm: Shafee: Who told you that you may lose your job if you don’t follow Jho Low’s orders? 

Amahari: Azlin explained it to me. I was just doing my job.

4.32pm: Shafee asks if Jho Low was a suspicious person. Amhari says he never came across as suspicious.

4.30pm: Shafee asks if there’s a possibility that Najib was misled by Jho Low. Sri Ram rebutted that this is a question for Najib to answer and not the witness.

4.13pm: Amhari says they need to be invited to meetings with Najib, if they’re not invited then they cannot initiate the meetings.

4.12pm: Shafee asks why Najib, Jho Low, Azlin and Amahari could not sit down and discuss these things. Amhari says it didn’t work that way.

4.07pm: Court resumes. Amhari says officially and unofficially, he attended three to four meetings on the conception of TIA.

3.47pm: Court takes a break.

3.32pm: Shafee suggests that Amhari was working hand in hand with Low.

Shafee also suggests that Amhari received US$1 million in kickbacks from Low. This is in reference to the US$800,000 in a BSI Singapore account and the US$200,000 Low had given him to purchase a house.

Amhari denies this.

3.02pm: Shafee: Is there any document that states Low was a special adviser to Najib?

Amhari: No, there was no document.

Shafee: You said he could be unofficial adviser. Was there a letter of honour to say this?

Amhari: No, there was not.

2.58pm: Shafee moves on to another facet of Amhari’s witness statement where Amhari said Low was an informal adviser to Najib on 1MDB matters.

2.55pm: Amhari says he is not aware of Low prior to his official role in TIA.

He says Low claimed to be an adviser to the TIA board chairman, which was the Terengganu sultan.

2.53pm: Sri Ram objects to Shafee’s line of questioning because Amhari was never involved in TIA meetings where Low’s name was brought up.

Sri Ram says that the prosecution will be calling witnesses involved in the meetings and Shafee can ask them these questions.

Sequerah agrees.

2.37pm: Shafee suggests that Low in April 2009, was appointed adviser to TIA but never an adviser to the then Terengganu sultan who also was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Amhari says he knew of this.

2.33pm: Court resumes with Shafee continuing with his cross-examination.

12.35pm: Court is adjourned for lunch. The trial will resume at 2.30pm.

12.30pm: Shafee: In this case, have you ever found Najib’s direction inappropriate or against the law?

Amhari takes a long pause but Sequerah says the question is subjective.

Amhari: If I may, I don’t want to comment on my former boss.

Shafee: I’m putting to you that he never gave you an inappropriate direction.

Amhari: I will answer it my way in this manner. Overwhelmingly, he did not give me wrong instructions. When I went to China and Abu Dhabi, I was more loyal than to worry about the cause of it.

12.22pm: Amhari says in a meeting with Terengganu state about TIA, he got the feeling that they were not happy.

12.20pm: Shafee: Did you update Najib that Low has been going around misrepresenting his position?

Amhari: No.

12.15pm: Shafee breaks the tension by telling Sequerah about the tables in court as he struggles to keep his documents from falling off the table: “Sorry yang ariff, the court tables are horrible, you can’t put any documents on the table.”

The court erupts into laughter and Sri Ram agrees.

12.11pm: Amhari says Azlin Alias (Najib’r private secretary) told Najib that it was advisable to get influential personnel on the matter to tell the public that Low was not involved in 1MDB.

Shafee: You remember Jho Low was going around claiming that he was the adviser of the YDP Agong who was the Sultan of Terengganu at that time. Did you know that this claim was not true at that time?

Amhari: No I didn’t know.

11.31am: Amhari says there were several occasions when he was in meetings with Low and the latter would receive calls from Rosmah.

Rosmah also spoke fondly of Low in the times Amhari met her.

Shafee: Did you attend any functions or meetings where you saw these close relationship?

Amhari: Yes, some functions and meet-ups. There were several.

Shafee: What transpired to make you conclude they were close?

Amhari: For some private functions that Najib or Rosmah organised, Low was invited. These were exclusive parties. Most of the guests were close to the couple.

11.29am: They are going through Amhari’s witness statement to establish that he only took instructions from Najib and no one else.

Shafee asks Amhari how he knew that Low was close to Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, as mentioned in his witness statement.

11.23am: Amhari says he was arrested under MACC 2009 Act for offences of which he’s not aware.  

11.22am: Trial resumes.

Shafee shows Amhari his bail bond document from MACC.

10.54am: Court takes a 10-minute break.

10.47am: Shafee suggests that Amhari got the job because he had worked with Low in EPU. Amhari disagrees.

Shafee: Both of you are ambitious individuals and just wanted to climb the ladder.

Amhari: I disagree.

10.44am: Shafee asks Amhari if Low had suggested to apply to become Najib’s special officer. Amhari disagrees.

Shafee then asks if Low used his power to get Amhari the job and that’s why Low told him he got the job before the official confirmation. Amhari disagrees.

10.27am: Amhari says Jho Low wanted TIA to be a sovereign wealth fund just like Mubadala was to the UAE.

(Mubadala is a state-owned holding company with a mandate to facilitate the diversification of Abu Dhabi’s economy.)

10.24am: Shafee compels Amhari to say if he knows or doesn’t know of the investment.

“You’re the special officer and you don’t know? Then it’s your funeral,” Shafee tells the witness when he says he can’t remember.

Shafee moves on to the formation of Terengganu Investment Authority, which later became 1MDB.

10.23am: Amhari says he is aware that there were lots of investments in Iskandar and EPU, therefore, it was hard to keep track of investments coming in.

10.13am: Sri Ram objects to Shafee’s questioning because he wants to “refresh the witnesses’ memory”. Sri Ram says this is hearsay.

Sequerah allows Shafee’s questioning for the time being while the latter reads out a newspaper article about Iskandar to the witness.

10.11am: Amhari says he doesn’t and that Mubadala and Low invested US$1.2 billion in the Johor Iskandar project.

9.47am: Shafee cross-examines Amhari.

The witness is asked whether he has more documents on the US$200,000 from Low Taek Jho.

9.43am: Shafee addresses court, asks to vacate October 1-3 for the 1MDB trial as the lawyer has a murder trial on those dates.

The murder trial of the late Cradle CEO where Shafee represents the widow. Sequerah says he’ll decide on whether to vacate the trial dates later this month.

9.41am: Court is in session. – September 10, 2019.