WANTED businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, had direct access to most of the princes in the Middle East, Najib Razak’s former special aide Wan Ahmad Shihab Wan Ismail told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.

Testifying in Najib’s 1MDB trial, Wan Shihab said Jho Low had arranged several meetings between Najib and a few princes from the Middle East.

Wan Shihab, the prosecution’s 16th witness, recalled that in August 2009, when Najib was the prime minister, he received a call from Jho Low informing him about a trip that had been fixed by a Kuwaiti prince.

“The invitation was from a Kuwaiti prince who invited Najib, his wife and children (Ashman, Nooryana Najwa and Riza Aziz), and his entourage flew to Nice in France.

“We met the prince on his yacht named RM Elegance,” said Wan Shihab as he read his witness statement before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

He said not long after their stay on RM Elegance, he was informed that a Saudi prince (Prince Turki) and Tarek Obaid (PetroSaudi International Ltd director) wanted to meet Najib and his family on another yacht not far from their initial location.

“Jho Low told me that Prince Turki wanted to meet Najib to have tea on his yacht, and I had to arrange a small boat to get to his yacht,” he said.

“When we boarded the yacht, Jho Low was already there with Tarek and the prince. I, however, did not know what the meeting was about, but after the meeting, they had a group photo session and I was the one who took the picture.”

A year later, in 2010, Jho Low again contacted Wan Shihab to inform him about another invitation from Prince Turki on his yacht, this time in Greece.

“Jho Low gave me the details about the trip in Greece and I double-checked with Najib, and he sanctioned it. So we went to Greece with 17 people, including his children,” he said.

“When we arrived, we were welcomed by the captain and Bustari Yusof, who was already on the yacht.”

Najib is standing trial for corruption over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds.

He faces 25 charges, four for abuse of power and 21 for money laundering, for offences allegedly committed between 2011 and 2013.

Wan Shihab said on another occasion in 2013, Jho Low contacted him to inform about an invitation from Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi.

“Again, Jho Low said I was selected to accompany Najib for this trip and like always, I checked with the prime minister who gave his consent,” he said.

“We left for Nice on June 27, 2013 and as we arrived, we were welcomed on board where we met Riza Aziz, Jho Low and Joey McFarlane (film director) who were already on the yacht.”

Asked by defence counsel Mohamed Shafee Mohamed Abdullah about Jho Low’s connection with the royal families from the Middle East, Wan Shihab said the Penang-born fugitive was well connected with most of the royal families.

“He had connections with almost every royal family in the Middle East,” he said.

Wan Shihab, 48, also revealed that all the trips to meet up with the princes were fully paid by the royals and arranged by Jho Low.

He said he first met Jho Low in 2009 when he accompanied Najib on a trip to the United States.

It was Najib’s son, Ashman, who introduced him to Jho Low.

“We stayed at Four Seasons Hotel in Washington where Ashman introduced him to me. He was already at the hotel lobby when we arrived,” he said.

He also told the court that he felt odd for someone like Jho Low to call him and to inform him that he was selected to accompany Najib on his overseas trips.

“When he called, he would use the phrase ‘you have been selected to accompany the PM’, but I felt a bit odd because he is an outsider.

“I think he wanted to show that he is close to the family, but I always double-checked with Najib on the overseas trips,” said Wan Shihab, who is now a businessman. – May 9, 2022.