NAJIB Razak’s former special officer, Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, will be cross-examined by the defence at the 1MDB trial today.

The witness, who was first called to the stand on Tuesday, completed reading out his 77-page statement yesterday.

Amhari testified yesterday that the much-criticised East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) was among several projects used to bail out 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s debts.

The Multi-Product Pipeline and Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline projects were also discussed with China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) in mid-2016.

Amhari was present at the meeting with Chinese representatives as did 1MDB central figure Low Taek Jho, who did much of the talking, the court heard yesterday.  

Low told the meeting that Najib offered Chinese-owned businesses equity in infrastructure projects in exchange for resolving 1MDB and SRC International’s debts, said Amhari.

Three other projects also offered to SASAC were: developing Labuan as an offshore banking and tourism hub, an oil pipeline from Port Klang to Kuala Kedah, and a Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok high-speed railway.

Low, whom the witness said held tremendous influence over Najib, also directed Ahmari and the former prime minister’s principal private secretary Azlin Alias to open two accounts prior to the 2013 general election.

Amhari believed that whispers about problems at 1MDB started during the period.

“We were fearful because there were possibilities that these accounts would be turned into money-laundering accounts, for the purpose of holding the funds for Najib to face the 13th general election,” Amhari said.

Amhari, 43, said the work culture at the prime minister’s office then was that no one dared questioned Najib about the source of 1MDB funds, when media reports on the scandal started surfacing.

At one point during the testimony, Amhari became emotional when he said that he was afraid of being used to cover up criminal activities linked to the scandal-ridden entity.

He was speaking about a meeting with Najib in June 2016, when he was ordered to travel to China to negotiate a bailout for 1MDB.

He said he was aided by Low, who communicated by phone and email.

“Although I respected and followed Najib, this was the hardest moment for me.

“I was worried I would be involved in a percaturan (chess game) by Najib and Jho Low if it was to cover up the loss of 1MDB funds or the settlement of IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company) debts that involved stolen 1MDB funds, or the use of such funds for political funding.”

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 accused is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

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:

4.43pm: Shafee calls time on his questioning for the day and asks judge Sequerah if they can continue questioning the same witness on the next day of the trial.

Court is adjourned to 9.30am on Tuesday.

4.38pm: Amhari says he didn’t keep any personal record of the meetings. Shafee says that because these were matters concerning the government, there needed to be some form of record-keeping.

Amhari disagrees, saying Najib holds a political office and sometimes, there are meetings that require no minutes.

4.34pm: Shafee suggests to Amhari that Jho Low darted in and out of those meetings with them because he didn’t want to give them time to think about his instructions.

Shafee also suggests that this was a charade by Jho Low to prevent them from reflecting on the instructions. Amhari disagrees with this.

Shafee: Why did you buy into this story that you had to destroy all the papers from the meetings? What kind of public servant would do that? 

Amhari: Because he said he had instructions from Najib.

4.21pm: Shafee asks Amhari if, during his second meeting with Jho Low at TGI Fridays, they had merely acknowledged each other. Shafee then asks him if Jho Low had paid for his meal that night. Amhari says yes, but that this information was not in his witness statement.

Shafee suggests to Amhari that Jho Low had cultivated this relationship with him primarily because he was a public servant.

Amhari says that Jho Low was always able to secure meetings with people in high places.

4.02pm: Amhari says the venue and time for the meetings were always decided by Azlin and Jho Low.

Shafee asks that, if these meetings were official, why did they never take place in Putrajaya.

4pm: Court resumes after a short break.

Shafee asks Amhari about his frequent meetings with Azlin and Jho Low at Prince Hotel KL.

Shafee: You’re in the PM’s office. What was this necessity to meet Jho Low at night in the city? 

Amhari: Night, because Azlin wanted to meet up in the city. In the hotel, because Azlin preferred to meet at the hotel.

3.38pm: Amhari says that Azlin was a humble man who listened to all his officers, adding that was also efficient.

3.32pm: Shafee asks him about Jho Low’s involvement in the Iskandar project, to which Amhari says he is not aware that he was involved.

3.22pm: Amhari tells the court that he was tasked with bringing Manchester City FC down to Kuala Lumpur. He adds he was tasked with this responsibility, thought up by Jho Low, by Najib personally.

3.02pm: Shafee: You realise that Jho Low could sell ice to an eskimo. 

Amhari: I knew that he was influential. But after GE14 when news reports started coming out, I realised what he had done.

2.50pm: Shafee: Do you agree with the assumption that Najib never sanctioned the US$800,000, and that he has no idea (about it)?. Isn’t that a manipulation to make you beholden to him? 

Amhari: I didn’t see it that way. 

Shafee: Isn’t it correct that Jho Low had compromised your position? 

Amhari: No, because Jho Low is influential and he is close to Najib… Jho Low is very close to Najib.

Shafee: Jho Low never took back the money; he left it in the account under your name. Did he put you in a compromising position? 

Amhari: He said he would take care of it.

Shafee asks him why he didn’t take it into his own hands to prepare a loan document for the US$200,000. Amhari says Jho Low told him there was no need for it, even though he asked him for a loan agreement.

Shafee: Do you agree that you were put in a compromised position here? 

Amhari: Yes, but I want to elaborate.

Shafee tells him he can elaborate if it is important. Amhari says it is not.

Shafee tells him he can elaborate later when the prosecution commences its re-examination. 

2.45pm: Amhari says Jho Low’s actions didn’t seem unlawful because he was able to convince people that what he was doing was right.

2.44pm: Amhari says Jho Low was a puppet master and others were the puppets.

Amhari says Low was a person who always got what he wanted and “if he can’t get it one way, he will try it another way.”

2.38pm: Shafee resumes cross-examining Amhari.

Shafee refers to Amhari’s witness statement where he called Low a “master manipulator”.

Amhari: I concluded that he was a master manipulator because when there is a need to execute something, he could engage different people at different times to get what he wants.

Shafee: He has on various occasions misled? 

Amhari: For example during negotiations for IPIC when I went to meet Khaldoon, I didn’t know that I was also to go to China. And when I went to both countries, everything was already done.

2.36pm: Najib enters and is seated in the dock. Court resumes.

2.33pm: Najib is not present. The judge is annoyed.

Shafee says the accused may have gone to the mosque to pray

Sequerah: Please impress upon your client the need to be present and punctual.

The judge stands down until Najib’s return.

1pm: Court breaks for lunch. Session will resume at 2.30pm.

12.56pm: They go over a list of companies linked to Low and his family. 

12.34pm:  Shafee asks the witness about Utama Banking Group.

Amhari says he knows that it was owned by Effendi Norwawi.

12.31pm: Amhari describes his duties at Khazanah.

12.24pm: Amhari says he asked Najib after the 2013 elections to move him to Khazanah but that he only received the green light to go in 2016. 

Amhari says he had to remind Najib several times about the transfer. Amhari says he could not pester him about it because Najib was a busy man.

12.22pm: Amhari says he was paid RM65,000 a month at Khazanah.

Shafee: Are you still saying you’re not ambitious? 

Amhari: No, I think it’s subjective.

12.20pm: Amhari says that while he was at the PMO, he was seconded to Bank Negara. He says he felt that he needed to pursue a corporate career and that Khazanah would suit him better.

He says his last drawn salary was RM25,000.

He says he also received a salary from Orb Solutions. His last pay there was RM20,000.

12.18pm: Amhari says he is not ambitious.

Shafee: Your last job was in Khazanah, you asked Najib to consider you for work in Khazanah. 

Amhari: I asked to be an employee only. Not (to serve) on the board. I was a director at Khazanah.

12.15pm: Shafee suggests that Amhari did not volunteer information to the MACC until he was confronted. 

Amhari disagrees.

Amhari says he was in the MACC lock-up for seven days. He says MACC treated him well. He says he slept on the floor but he slept well.

Shafee: You purposely omitted the US$200,000 because it would implicate you. 

Amhari: I disagree.

12.12pm: Shafee asks if a civil forfeiture suit has been filed against Amhari, who replies no.

Shafee suggests that Amhari has been persuaded by MACC to tailor his testimony to implicate his client. 

The witness disagrees. He disagrees that he was threatened by MACC. 

12.09pm: Amhari says he offered to transfer the ownership of the house to Low but Low told him to take his time.

Amhari says he didn’t have a loan agreement with Low.

Shafee asks if a loan agreement wasn’t something that Amhari should have had drawn up.

Amhari: I didn’t do an agreement. It’s not easy to persuade Jho Low to do these things.

Shafee: None of your houses were frozen by the authorities? 

Amhari: No. 

Shafee: You are lucky. I am not so.

12.08pm: Amhari says he tried to pay back Low from the sale of his house.

He told Low he’d transfer the title to him but Low reassured him to take his time.

Amhari says he didn’t have a loan agreement with Low, saying it’s not easy to persuade Low to agree to a loan agreement.

12.04pm: Amhari says the loan was a temporary bridge to sell one house and buy another. He couldn’t sell the house.

Shafee: You used Jho Low’s money as part of the payment?

Amhari: Yes. The money came through a bank transfer.

The funds came from Alsen Chance Holding Ltd, owned by Low.

Shafee asks if he knows that the company is being investigated by US authorities, to which Amhari says he didn’t know.

12.03pm: Amhari says he got the money from Low as a loan. He says he asked many people for a loan and Low gave it to him.

Shafee asks if he tried to get a loan from Bank Negara. Amhari says he tried but didn’t.

Shafee: Then you tried other places? So how did Jho Low know that you needed the money?

A: I asked Jho Low in 2010.

11.59am: Shafee asks Amhari about took another US$200,000 from Jho Low’s arrangement that was  subject of investigation.

Amhari: I declared that.

Shafee: Was it in your MACC statement?

Amhari: Yes.

Shafee: But it’s not in the court witness statement? Why not?

Amhari: After many months of writing the statement, it did not end up there.

11.59am: Shafee asks if MACC confronted Amhari about his properties, to which he says “yes”.

Shafee: They confronted you with these properties to find out whether your salary matches your lifestyle?

Amhari: They asked about my house in Kota Damansara, another house also in Kota Damansara.

MACC also quizzed Amhari about two other studio apartments he owned in Johor.

“There was another property I was in the midst of buying, which is Pavilion Damansara Heights. I signed to buy but I pulled out of it.”

Shafee: This is RM3.8 million?

Amhari: Yes. But I cancelled it after I was asked by Khazanah to resign, after GE14, they terminated my employment.

11.55am: Shafee: When the MACC took your statement, did you volunteer information about the US$800,000. I put it to you that they showed you the account and showed you this to your face.

Amhari: I cannot remember.

Shafee suggests Amhari was taken by surprise by this. Amhari says he wasn’t.

11.50am: Shafee asked Amhari “You counter-checked with three people whether you should attend this meeting? Jho Low, Azlin and Najib. You chose to get a confirmation from Najib on your own account?”

Amhari: Yes.

Shafee: On this not-so-critical instruction, you thought it wise to double check with Najib and Amhari agrees.

Shafee: You were advised by Azlin not to listen to anyone else except Najib. He was referring to Jho Low?

Amhari: Yes.

Shafee: If that’s the case, you go to Singapore and open and account without checking. You didn’t go to Najib’s room and ask “eh boss boleh ke?”

Amhari: The context is different.  

Shafee: You agree with me that although the context is different, the second is far more important to seek confirmation?

Amhari: I disagree.

11.44am: Shafee takes Amhari through his witness statement where Low sends him a BlackBerry message saying that he has gotten Najib’s blessings that Amhari be present in a meeting to discuss the formation of Terengganu Investment Authority.

Amhari then double checked with Najib about this and found out this was true. This happened in 2008.

Shafee: You double checked with Najib. This is merely attending a meeting. You went and double checked. You didn’t take Jho Low’s word for granted?

Amhari: Yes.

Shafee: In what capacity were you attending?

Amhari: I said to Najib that Jho Low asked me to confirm with you that I should go for the TIA meeting.

Shafee: You said Jho Low directed you and said he had blessings from Najib. Jho Low never asked you to reconfirm this with Najib?

Amhari: I agree.

(Najib was then deputy prime minister and minister of finance.)

11.37am: Amhari says he requested that the travel ban be lifted because he was looking for work and he wanted to visit family and perform the umrah last year.

When he returned, he was banned again.

Amhari says he’s investigated by the police for commercial crimes and AMLA.

11.34am: Amhari says he’s not aware on what offence his bail is granted.

Shafee: They have not told you whether your investigation is finished or whether you’re charged?

Amhari: I don’t know.

Shafee: Do you have your passport with you?

Amhari: Yes.

Shafee: But there’s a travel ban?

Amhari: Yes.

11.32am: Court resumes. Shafee apologises to Sequerah for the delay as the Najib went to get coffee.

Shafee asks Amhari if he is currently on bail. Amhari says yes.

11.29am: Najib is not in the courtroom. Judge Sequerah is waiting for him to return.

11.27am: Court back in session.

11.04am: Shafee says at any occasion that Amhari met Najib, he could’ve brought up the foreign accounts with him. Amhari disagrees.

Court breaks for 15 minutes.

10.58am: Shafee: You felt the threat may come from the PMO or the PM himself?

Amhari: Not directly but Jho Low has the blessings of Najib.

Shafee: You felt the threat was your own boss (Najib) conveyed by Jho Low?

Amhari: After Azlin explained, the threat is not directly from the PM.

Shafee: You could have just asked Najib. It’s a simple thing. You could’ve asked him if he authorised this. If that is done, the threat is not there.

Amhari: I disagree.

10.55am: Shafee says that in 2012, Amhari claimed he had to follow instructions and open the account because he feared losing his job and threats to his family and life.

Amhari: I disagree. Azlin told me this.

Shafee: You must have some idea. Who would threaten your life? Or are you saying Najib would carry the gun and shoot you?

Amhari: The PM has all the authority and power to do many things. When I say life I don’t mean my life, I meant my livelihood.

The conduct of my day-to-day life and I would not know how Jho Low would interpret this and relate it to Najib. This was discussed heavily when Azlin briefed me.

10.51am: Shafee suggests that it’s a figment of Amhari’s imagination that the money is for political purposes.

Amhari: I disagree.

Shafee: I’m putting it to you that this money in the account was your reward for helping Jho Low in many things.

Amhari: I disagree.

10.48am: Shafee suggests MACC was investigating him for receiving bribes from Low. Amhari says he can’t remember.

10.45am: Shafee asks Amhari when MACC remanded him, was he told if was over offences related to the accounts.

Amhari: Yes, correct.

Shafee: You agree that MACC told you this was an AMLA (money-laundering) offence?

Amhari: No, they didn’t

Shafee: Did they tell you why they’re arresting you?

Amhari: Maybe they did, but I don’t remember.

10.37am: Amhari says he doesn’t know what happened to the Bangkok account.

10.30am: Shafee says in the SRC International trial, a few hundred million went into Najib’s account for elections.

He asks if it makes sense that Low would open an account in Singapore for a few hundred thousand dollars when the prime minister in his own backyard opened a personal account in AmBank to receive hundreds of millions of dollars.

Shafee: Has it crossed your mind that Jho Low is talking rubbish. When my boss (Najib) has opened accounts with millions of dollars. Why did he have to open the Singapore account?

Amhari: No.

After failing to open an account in China, Amhari went to Bangkok on Low’s instructions to open an account there.

10.27am: Shafee suggests that Low didn’t tell Amhari that the money was supposed to be used for GE13 in 2013.

Shafee suggests that US$800,000 was “peanuts” for an election. Amhari disagrees.

10.24am: Amhari says Low told him the BSI account was on standby for political purposes.

10.23am: Amhari says he knew when he went to China about the money in the BSI account. He went to China in 2016 while the BSI account was opened in Singapore in 2012.

10.22am: Shafee suggests that Amhari went to China to open another account to transfer the BSI money, as he was aware of funds in the BSI account.

10.21am: Shafee asks Amhari if he was aware that US$800,000 was deposited into the BSI account.

Amhari says he was not aware of the money in the account as there was no indication or information that the money was deposited into the account.

10.17am: Amhari says he wasn’t suspicious because he was following orders and Low told him, he would manage this account.

Amhari agrees with the suggestion that he totally believed Low.

Shafee says he won’t mention Azlin because he died and unable to defend himself.

10.15am: Shafee asks Amhari if he remembers Aero Sphere Ltd. Amhari says yes that was the shell company registered under his bank account.

He was the sole shareholder.

Shafee: Did you not wonder about this kind of layering? Usually your alarm bells will ring.

Amhari: I wondered.

Shafee: But you didn’t take it further?

Amhari: No, I didn’t.

10.08am: Amhari says he was arrested arrested on June 26, 2018 and detained seven days by MACC.

His statement was recorded by the MACC in the seven days. Amhari says he was not interrogated by the MACC, just questioned.

10.04am: The bank account is BSI’s.

Amhari says he doesn’t have any information of the account as Low kept everything. The information is now with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

10.02am: Shafee says an outsider tells you to open an account for political funding and you open in with Azlin and you didn’t take measures to make sure Najib as PM knows.

Amhari: I disagree.

Amhari says he believes that the account opened in Singapore was under his name, adding that his was not the sole name on the account.

Shafee: Are you telling the court that as a former BNM officer, you don’t know if it was under a company or personal?

Amhari: I’m not sure of banking analogies.

10am: Amhari says he didn’t know if Azlin mentioned the bank accounts to Najib.

9.59am: Shafee says Najib told him that he didn’t know Amhari had an account in Singapore.

Shafee: You believed Jho Low “bulat-bulat” and didn’t check with Najib?

Amhari: I never did that. Because I followed Azlin, I was following his manoeuvring. I was a junior at that time, I never had any direct contact with Najib at that time. So I followed Azlin.

9.56am: Shafee asks if it didn’t cross his mind that his boss was the PM and the minister of finance.

Shafee: Did it not cross your mind that you need to follow regulations to open an overseas account?

Amhari: I didn’t know about these regulations. Over and above, they gave me the instructions. Azlin and Jho Low would be aware of these regulations.

9.54am: Amhari says he did not seek BNM’s approval when he was asked to open an overseas bank account by Jho Low.

Amhari says he followed Low and Azlin’s instructions and the account was opened in Singapore.

9.53am: Shafee asks whether he sought permission from Bank Negara to open a bank account when he studied in Warwick.

Amhari says he didn’t. Shafee says this is common practice but when one is not a student and want to open a bank account overseas, you need BNM’s permission.

9.47am: Shafee asks Amhari about his qualifications. He graduated from the University of Warwick in economics.

9.44am: Shafee apologises because of the delay, stating that he had some traffic issues. He begins the cross-examination.

9.36am: Najib is seated in the public gallery waiting for proceedings to start.

Today’s proceedings will see the defence cross-examining Najib’s former special officer Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin. – September 5, 2019.