WHO IS PROTECTING NAJIB’S TOP 2 LIEUTENANTS: JHO LOW INTERVIEWED BY MACC 4 YEARS AGO, WHILE CO-CONSPIRATOR NIK FAISAL FLED 2 DAYS BEFORE NAJIB LOST POWER – YET DUO STILL UNTRACEABLE, UNABLE TO GIVE EVIDENCE DESPITE INTERPOL RED NOTICES

KUALA LUMPUR – Two central figures in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, who remain as fugitives, were found by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commis-sion (MACC) in 2015, the High Court heard.

MACC’s investigating officer Rosli Husain said they found former SRC International Sdn Bhd CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, was found in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.

Rosli said his team recorded statements from Nik Faisal in Jakarta on Oct 17, 2015 and Jho Low in Abu Dhabi on Nov 27, 2015.

Because their statements had already been recorded, he said, the MACC believed both would return to Malaysia to testify in court.

He was testifying in the corruption trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is accused of misappropriating RM42mil in SRC International funds, here yesterday.

Rosli, who was questioned by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Ishak Mohd Yusoff during an examination-in-chief, said due to that belief, they did not place the two men under bond.

The men, however, did not return and have been missing since.

Efforts to trace the duo at offices and home residences were futile.

The witness said they went to Nik Faisal’s office in Shah Alam on May 21, 2018 and were met by his staff who told them that he was out of the country.

“Efforts to trace him at his home in Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, were also unsuccessful.

“My officer traced Jho Low to a residence in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, but did not find him there and his father was also unreachable, ” he added.

Rosli said arrest warrants for Nik Faisal and Jho Low were issued on May 22, 2018 to obtain Interpol’s help.

The witness said the authorities revoked the Malaysian passports of Jho Low and Nik Faisal on June 14, 2018 and July 25, 2018 respectively.

“The official information from the Immigration Department stated that Jho Low’s last movement was of him departing through Terminal Three at Subang Airport on May 29, 2015.

“For Nik Faisal, he departed through KLIA on May 7, 2018, ” he added.

The hearing continues before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali today.

– ANN