1MDB TRIAL | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was not alerted to any suspicion when he inked a shareholders' resolution on 1MDB's joint-venture with British Virgin Islands-based Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (Aabar BVI), the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.
Aabar BVI was set up to resemble Aabar Investments PJS, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC). In reality, Aabar BVI had nothing to do with the Abu Dhabi government.
Former 1MDB chief executive officer Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, appearing as a witness in Najib's ongoing RM2.28 billion graft trial today, was asked by defence counsel Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed about the shareholders' resolution accepting the terms and conditions of the joint-venture.
Shahrol, under cross-examination, conceded that he did not brief Najib or Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) on the execution of the document.
However, Shahrol maintained that Najib had never raised any adverse comments about the resolution.
Wan Aizuddin then quizzed Shahrol if someone could have realised something was amiss if they were to look at the document.
Wan Aizuddin: Do you agree that on the face of the document, looking at the content, the impression is that the joint-venture is between 1MDB and the real Aabar.
Shahrol: Yes.
Wan Aizuddin: Is it safe to say that for the uninitiated, when you see 1MDB and Aabar Investments PJS Limited, a person not warned of peculiarity may take this for the (real thing)?
Shahrol: Yes.
Wan Aizuddin: When Najib executed the resolution, it says Aabar. Doesn't show anything that he should be concerned about?
Shahrol: Yes.
The joint-venture, which eventually did not proceed, was used as the basis for 1MDB to raise its third bond totalling US$3 billion, which was arranged by Goldman Sachs.
Like its two previous bonds totalling US$3.5 billion, also arranged by Goldman Sachs, they were also misappropriated.
The joint venture between Aabar BVI and 1MDB was in relation to the development of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project.
The TRX project involved the development of freehold land in the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD).
Meanwhile, during further cross-examination by Wan Aizuddin, Shahrol testified he could not comment on whether Najib acted based only on what was presented to him.
The witness also declined to comment on whether that as a result of what was presented to Najib at the time, the then-premier did not get the full picture of the joint-venture structure.
Proceedings before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah will resume tomorrow morning.
Former premier Najib is on trial on four charges of abusing his position to obtain gratification and 21 counts of money laundering in relation to RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.