FORMER Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah will testify tomorrow on behalf of Najib Razak’s defence in the SRC International trial, the high court was informed today.

After the second defence witness, former AmBank relationship manager Krystle Yap, concluded her testimony today, defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh informed the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the 62-year-old Irwan will take the witness stand.

Irwan claimed trial along side Najib on October 25, 2018, to six counts of criminal breach of trust involving over RM6.6 billion of government funds involving Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC). The case has yet to go to trial.

Irwan was appointed chairman of 1Malaysia Development Bhd on May 31, 2016. 

Together with two other directors, Irwan took over the board after the previous board of directors resigned en masse following a report by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which noted governance lapses in the state investor but did not find then prime minister and finance minister Najib culpable.

Najib, as finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB’s advisory board, had oversight of the fund.

A year later, Irwan was appointed chairman of Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia, both owned by 1MDB.

During his tenure on the 1MDB board, the fund reached a US$1.2 billion settlement with IPIC in London over the latter’s claims that its subsidiary, Aabar Investments PJS, never received US$3.5 billion which 1MDB owed.

The US$3.5 billion was for two bond issues worth US$1.75 billion each arranged by Goldman Sachs, which IPIC had guaranteed for 1MDB to raise funds to purchase power-generation assets.

Neither Irwan nor then 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy explained the rationale behind the settlement or accounted for the missing US$3.5 billion.

Prior to becoming the secretary-general of the Treasury in August 2012, Irwan was an officer with the Economic Planning Unit from 1984-2003. His initial posting to the Ministry of Finance was with the economic unit.

During his tenure in the Finance Ministry, Irwan chaired or was a director of at least 20 companies, including government-linked companies. – February 4, 2020.