KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday was told that Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak (pix) had signed the Directors’ Circular Resolution (DCR) and Special Rights Redeemable Preference (SRRP) which gives a win-win situation for a joint-venture between 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and Aabar Investment PJS Limited (Aabar) in the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) development project.
Former 1MDB Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, 49, said the joint-venture would enable Aabar to bring in a fund of RM1.4 billion while 1MDB would give development rights to implement the TRX project.
Shahrol Azral said the 1MDB DCR dated July 9, 2012 was signed by Najib aimed at proposing that 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd would together develop Parcel A.1.0, a 564,965m² freehold development land in the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD) with Aabar while the SRRP on the same date was an approval on the joint development with Aabar.
‘’I confirm there were Datuk Seri Najib’s signatures as Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) on both documents and approved in his capacity as a SRRP shareholder,’’ he said.
The ninth witness who is also an important prosecution witness said this during the examination-in-chief by senior Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram on the 15th day of the trial of Najib who was charged with four counts of using his position to obtain a RM2.3 billion bribe in the 1MDB fund and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
Shahrol Azral said he announced the case himself in a 1MDB Board of Directors (BOD) meeting on June 21, 2012 and at that time he had also told that the management had asked Aabar Investment PJS Limited to consider the negotiation on the management of the infrastructure work for the entire KLIFD project, now known as TRX.
‘’The TRX project which was launched on July 30, 2012 was also one of the ideas to enlarge the investment of 1MDB with Aabar Investment PJS (Aabar) by Jho Low and Aabar also showed their interest and would give a decision in the near future.
‘’What I understand about the joint-venture with Aabar was that, at that time there was a proposal for a joint-venture with Aabar for Phase 1 of TRX. In this meeting, I made a new proposal that Aabar bore the financing for the infrastructure works of the entire TRX project and all preliminary plannings had been made by Jho Low himself via his action plan and information notes,’’ he said.
Referring to the letter sent by Aabar Investments PJS Limited to the 1MDB BOD dated June 27, 2012, Shahrol Azral said he had received the letter from Jho Low but did not know how the businessman had received it.
‘’Aabar had attached copies of the terms for the proposal to develop Parcel A.1.0 at KLIFD. The letter explained that if 1MDB agreed with the terms proposed, 1MDB must sign the letter before July 9, 2012.
‘’Jho Low later asked me through BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for the proposals to give the mandate to the 1MDB lawyer, jasmine Loo Ai Swan to negotiate and manage all matters involving the Aabar joint-venture including processes abroad,’’ he said.
Shahrol Azral said he knew Jasmine was an individual trusted by Jho Low to implement actions as outlined in Jho Low’s proposals based on feedback from Jho Low himself.
‘’As such, whatever is expressed by Jasmine related to this joint-venture came from Jho Low and all that which were from Jho Low came from Datuk Seri Najib himself,’’ he said.
Answering to a supplementary question from Sri Ram as to how he could have come to such a conclusion on the matter, Shahrol Azral said Jasmine had worked with 1MDB for at least a year at that time.
“The direction to get the mandate for this transaction came from Jho Low and in my mind at that time, Jasmine would execute Datuk Seri Najib’s wishes through Jho Low,“ he said.
Najib, 66, faced four charges of using his position to obtain a bribe of RM2.3 billion in the 1MDB fund and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The Pekan Member of Parliament was charged with committing the four offences at the AmIslamic Bank Berhad Branch, Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon here between Feb 24, 2011 and Dec 19, 2014 and charges of money laundering between March 22, 2013 and Aug 30, 2013, at the same place.
The trial before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues today. — Bernama
