DR Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah was far from being a drab or dour civil servant. 

The former Treasury secretary-general has the dance moves and knew how to flaunt them, as documented on YouTube for posterity.

Fond of colourful shoes, he admitted in a Facebook post in 2016 that he preferred casual footwear, jeans and T-shirts when not on official duty. His love for colourful sneakers is similarly captured on his Instagram account, although he has since deleted it.

The founder and patron of the Global Entrepreneurship Movement once arrived at a GEM function in a trench coat and fedora for the organisation’s second anniversary that coincided with his 61st birthday.

This was two months before the 14th general election, and things were going well for the Kelantan native as his bosses in the Barisan Nasional administration then appeared confident of retaining control of Putrajaya.

Irwan, whose contract as secretary-general was renewed after his retirement in March 2017, looked set to complete his extension until March 2019.

As with most civil servants, Irwan’s name rarely made the national news headlines but from 2014, media attention turned to the Finance Ministry as one revelation after another about 1Malaysia Development Bhd began to surface.

On May 31, 2016, Irwan was appointed 1MDB chairman as the troubled state investor fended off a string of allegations about its dodgy deals and mounting debts.

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 on its inquiry into the state investor in 2016. 

That report noted weaknesses in 1MDB’s governance but did not find then prime minister and finance minister Najib Razak 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, two of 1MDB’s prized assets.

During his tenure on the 1MDB board, the fund reached a US$1.2 billion settlement with the International Petroleum Investment Company (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 bonds worth US$1.75 billion each arranged by Goldman Sachs, which IPIC had guaranteed for 1MDB to raise funds to purchase power-generation assets.

While the settlement managed to end the IPIC saga, the mystery surrounding the missing US$3.5 billion was never solved. Media reports also suggested that the payment was diverted to another “Aabar” company in the British Virgin Islands with an almost similar name.

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

The flamboyant former secretary-general will probably have a chance to explain the matter as he is to be jointly charged with Najib today at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.

It will make him the first senior civil servant to be charged under the Pakatan Harapan administration.

Both will be charged with criminal breach of trust likely to be over 1MDB’s dealing with IPIC. 

Media reports quoting Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission sources have said that Irwan was questioned over the Abu Dhabi state firm.

Prior to becoming the secretary-general of 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 MOF, Irwan chaired or was a director of at least 20 companies, including government-linked companies (GLCs).

According to a written parliamentary reply by the PH finance minister on Tuesday, Irwan was involved in the following companies: 1MDB, Actus Terra Global Holdings Sdn Bhd, Aroma Teraju Sdn Bhd, Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Cyberview Sdn Bhd, GovCo Holdings Bhd, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd, Malaysia Global Innovation & Creativity Centre Bhd (MaGIC), MRT Corp Sdn Bhd, MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Piramid Pertama Sdn Bhd, Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Jaminan Kredit Perumahan Bhd, Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Bhd, Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sin Bhd, Technology Depository Agency Bhd, TRX City Sdn Bhd, Wakala Global Suku Bhd and Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera.

Whatever he earned from these posts was aside from the nearly RM3 million in emoluments he received as deputy Treasury secretary-general and as secretary-general from 2011 until the end of his service which was cut short on June 13, 2018,  the same written reply stated.

The reply was to a question raised by Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, who asked the ministry to state Irwan’s earnings from 2011 until the end of his tenure.

Irwan, who became deputy secretary-general in December 2010, earned RM281,800.43 in his first year in 2011.

He was made secretary-general on August 24, 2012, and earned RM366,422.62 the following year.

In 2017, his last full year as secretary-general, he was drawing RM495,711.45.

In an interview with New Straits Times in 2016, Irwan Serigar said he came from a poor family in Kelantan and the experience helped him rise up to become the secretary-general of Treasury.

“I worked in Mydin after Form 5, earning RM150 a month in 1974. It was tough. 

“I didn’t have money to pay for university registration fees and had to stay at friends’ homes and shower at the university,” he said.

More than four decades later, after an illustrious career as a senior civil servant, he now faces a very uncertain future after he is jointly charged with former boss Najib today. – October 25, 2018.