THERE was a plot by those close to Najib Razak to keep his name out of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) investigations, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Former 1MDB chief executive officer Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi said Najib’s people, including then Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Hasan Ariffin, had told him to keep the former prime minister out of the probes.

The prosecution witness said this under examination by lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram.

Sri Ram asked Shahrol if he was ordered to destroy notes in order to protect Najib.

Sri Ram: You were asked (by the defence) about your evidence before the PAC. You said you destroyed the speaking notes because it was your job to protect the accused?

Shahrol: Correct

Sri Ram: May I ask, this idea of protecting the accused, where did it come from?

Shahrol: It came from everybody, not only Jho Low… officers in the Prime Minister’s Department, Barisan Nasional politicians who were members of the Public Accounts Committee in parliament whom I interacted with.

Even from the beginning, I remember the civil servants in MoF (Finance Ministry) used the phrase “must protect the PM”.

Shahrol said among those involved in the scheming were Najib’s then officer Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin and Media Prima Bhd television networks group CEO Ahmad Farid Ridzuan.

Shahrol testified these two men were in charge of Najib’s branding and image and were working to shield him from the probing attention of international daily, Wall Street Journal.

He said he met PAC chairman Hasan at Farid’s house where the former told Shahrol to keep Najib’s name out of the investigations.

Sri Ram: What about the BN member in PAC?

Shahrol: I met the then chairman Hasan. I can’t remember all the names of the guys but at least one or two other members were also present at Farid’s home and the objective of the discussion was again to protect the PM.

Sri Ram: Was your evidence to PAC in any way influenced by this?

Shahrol: Of course. The fact was all mention of Jho Low was removed and responsibility for all the decisions was put on my shoulders.

Sri Ram: So you would take the blame?

Shahrol: Yes

Sri Ram: Americans call it the ‘fall guy’, you were the fall guy.

Shahrol: Yes, Americans call it the ‘fall guy’, Malays call it ‘kambing hitam’.

Around the same time, Shahrol said he met Paul Stadlen n Putrajaya to discuss Najib’s image and his reputation.

“He was introduced to me by Jho Low. He was the boss’ (Najib) PR guy. He was managing PR and public perception. I met him at Marriott Putrajaya.”

During their brief discussion at the hotel, Shahrol said Stadlen was also inclined to guard Najib from any scandal. 

Shahrol said Najib was never in the dark about the developments at 1MDB and that the accused had known all about the fraudulent transactions that were taking place.

Sri Ram: Can you explain what made you believe the accused was aware of what Jho Low was doing?

Shahrol: From the very beginning of the establishment of 1MDB, all of the instructions and details contained within the talking points were either consistent with the action and subsequent action of the shareholder or in fact repeated by the shareholder on other occasions.

Sri Ram: Who are you referring to?

Shahrol: I am referring to Najib. As a matter of fact, there were one or two specific occasions where I briefly chatted with Najib and I saw that he had a firm grasp of what was happening in the company…at least to my perception.

Jho Low, as Low Taek Jho is popularly known, was financial adviser to Najib. He is wanted by investigators in Malaysia for his role in the defrauding of 1MDB. 

Shahrol declared he never took “a single sen” from 1MBD and that he did not benefit in any way from any of its dubious transactions. 

Sri Ram: It has been put to you that you and others have conspired to defraud 1MDB. You deny it. We take the amounts separately. The US$700 million to Goodstar Ltd. Did you get any amount of that money?

Shahrol: No I did not.

Sri Ram: The next transaction, the energy transactions for acquiring Tanjong and Mastika Lagenda worth US$1.75 billion each, did you get any money from that?

Shahrol: Not at all.

Sri Ram: Third transaction, the US$3 billion bond issued. You were asked on this. And did you receive any part of the money from that transaction?

Shahrol: No, not a single sen.

The 49-year-old Shahrol, who was 1MDB CEO from 2009 to 2013, ended his testimony today. He had been on the witness stand since late last year.

The former prime minister is being tried on four counts of power abuse to enrich himself and 21 counts of money-laundering involving RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds.

The trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Monday. – September 3, 2020.