FORMER Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah testified that it was not the norm for government loan application approvals to take less than a month, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Previous witnesses, including seniors at the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), said they were pressured to rush through the RM4 billion in loans to SRC International Sdn Bhd in 2011 and 2012.

Irwan said the loan process usually takes more than a month.

He was asked by defence counsel Farhan Read on the average timeline from the time of the application to when the matter was decided by cabinet.

Irwan: It depends. It can take one to three months. It can take less than a month depending on the urgency. Normally, it’s one to three months.

Farhan: To your knowledge, was there any application that took less than a month to process from start to finish?

Irwan: On average, it took more than one month.

Irwan also testified that he was not involved in the procurement process of two RM2 billion loan from KWAP.

He was then deputy Treasury secretary-general who answered to his superior, Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah.

He said he did sign a government memo for the second loan, but said it was a matter of protocol as Wan Abdul Aziz was overseas.

Farhan: Were you pressured to prepare this memo? Did you receive any pressure to sign the approval?

Irwan: My officer cannot pressure me. They explain to me and then I sign.

Farhan: How about higher up?

Irwan: At that point in time, nobody called.

Irwan was also questioned whether he perceived former prime minister Najib Razak to be especially keen in SRC International.

Irwan: In 2011, I wasn’t involved and I wouldn’t know. If you are asking on 2016 and 2017, I was involved in the repayment (of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s debts). Of course, I can tell you because I was directly involved. I came in to initiate the repayment.

Irwan was appointed chairman of 1MDB on May 31, 2016.

After Irwan gave his oral testimony, ad hoc deputy public prosecutor V. Sithambaram opted not to cross-examine the witness. Present was Attorney-General Tommy Thomas.

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah then informed the court that Najib’s legal team has yet to interview the fourth defence witness.

Irwan claimed trial alongside Najib in October 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.

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.

Najib’s charges in this trial are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, of which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in December 2014 and February 2015.

The 66-year-old faces up to 20 years imprisonment, if convicted.

The trial before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali continues Monday. – February 5, 2020.