FORMER 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chairman Mohd Bakke Salleh told the High Court today that he was advised to be more ‘“accommodating” when giving his testimony on the sovereign wealth fund to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in 2015.

Bakke said two weeks before the PAC meeting, he was called by then prime minister Najib Razak to meet with then PAC chairman Hasan Arifin and former TV3 managing director Ahmad Farid Ridzuan.

He alleged that during the meeting, Hasan and Farid had told him not to mention businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and not to make references to Najib.

“Those was the subtle instructions sent by them – (to) not to mention PM and Jho Low as he was considered taboo,” Bakke told the High Court today.

“I knew what I wanted to say during the PAC meeting and (I would) not let anyone interfere (with my testimony).

“I merely conveyed facts at the PAC hearing. I did not want to mince my words.”

Farid at the time was in charge of Najib’s public image.

Bakke is the 15th witness in the trial against Najib, who is charged with misappropriating RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds.

Najib faces 25 charges – four of abuse of power and 21 of money laundering – for offences committed between 2011 and 2013.

The 68-year-old Bakke said the meeting was to ensure he was prepared when giving his statement to the PAC.

This was the first of two such meetings Bakke attended; the second meeting was with former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

Bakke said chief concern at the first meeting was to safeguard the reputation of the prime minister who was worried about the fallout from the 1MDB affair.

Bakke said former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi was also present at the first meeting.

“I got the impression that Hasan and Farid wanted me to be more accommodating (about his testimony to the PAC).”

Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked Bakke why they had told him not to say anything that could be perceived as sensitive.

Bakke said he was told at the meeting not to mention Jho Low and Najib to the PAC.

Shafee pointed out that Bakke went ahead and mentioned Najib to the PAC after he was advised not to do so.

“They also told you that Jho Low was taboo, but you didn’t care about what was mentioned?”

Bakke replied yes to both questions. – May 18, 2022.