The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged abuse of power and money laundering of 1MDB funds enters its 25th day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Former 1MDB CEO never checked if USD700m advance in joint-venture company reflected in its books
- 1MDB was Najib, Najib was 1MDB, says ex-1MDB CEO
- Ex-1MDB CEO signed agreement with PSI out of his trust on Jho Low's associate
- Agreement with PSI only gives 1MDB less than 48 hours to terminate joint-venture
- 1MDB-PSI joint-venture in USD700m debt due to purported higher value of PSI assets
- Defence team seeks documents MACC secured from ex-Petro Saudi exec Justo
Former 1MDB CEO never checked if USD700m advance in joint-venture company reflected in its books
12.05 pm: Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah further queries a former 1MDB CEO on assets purportedly worth USD2.2 billion injected by Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Ltd (PSI) into their joint-venture company in 2009.
The assets in Turkmenistan and Argentina, valued by a firm appointed by PSI, had affected in the joint-venture company being in USD700m debt to PSI.
Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, who was 1MDB CEO from 2009 to 2013, testifies that he had never checked with the joint venture company called 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd if the USD700m advance value was recorded in the latter's books.
Shahrol says that he did not check because he had left the matter to then 1MDB executive director Casey Tang and businessperson Jho Low.
1MDB was Najib, Najib was 1MDB, says ex-1MDB CEO
11.58am: "1MDB was Najib, Najib was 1MDB."
This is what former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi tells the High Court during cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
The key 9th prosecution witness is explaining the rush in signing the deal between 1MDB and Petro Saudi International.
"It is important to set the context on why the decision on the PSI deal was done quickly and that I bulldozed everything through.
In a nutshell, I believed this was what (then prime minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) (below) wanted.
"The diference between 1MDB and Najib did not exist in my mind. 1mdb was Najib and Najib was 1mdb.
"Whatever he wanted done, I needed to get it done.
"At that time, i was trying to reconcile what the (1MDB) board wanted and (1MDB board of advisors) chairperson Najib wanted", Shahrol says.
11.43am: Proceedings resume after break.
10.30am: Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah allows a short break to allow lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram to attend to a separate court matter before another judge.
Shafee and Sri Ram are respectively acting for opposing parties in a mediation in the separate court case.
Ex-1MDB CEO signed agreement with PSI out of his trust on Jho Low's associate
10.25am: A former 1MDB CEO only learned that its joint-venture company with Petrosaudi Holdings was in huge debt on the same day he was scheduled to seal the cooperation deal in 2009, the court hears.
Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi testifies that he, however, went ahead with the signing of the agreement out of trust on Casey Tang, who was then 1MDB executive director.
The witness says he had queried Tang upon learning about the USD700 million debt already incurred by 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd hours before signing the agreement on Sept 28, 2009.
Tang, who was an associate of Jho Low, then advised Shahrol that it was okay for him to ink the deal with PSI.
"At that time, my perception was this was not something out of the ordinary and had been part of the negotiation that I was not involved in.
"At that time, I asked Casey the question, is this ok to sign. And he said ok.
So i had trusted in his advice. So I went and did it," Shahrol testifies.
Agreement with PSI only gives 1MDB less than 48 hours to terminate joint-venture
10.15am: A former CEO of 1MDB testifies that a joint-venture agreement he signed for the company with Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Ltd (PSI) in 2009 only gave 1MDB a window of less than two days to terminate the cooperation.
According to cross-examination by the defence on Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, the agreement he signed stipulated that 1MDB had until Sept 30, 2009 to terminate their joint-venture with PSI if 1MDB finds PSI assets injected into their cooperation was of lower value than it was said to be.
Shahrol signed the agreement on Sept 28.
The prosecution witness had earlier testified that the joint-venture company called 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd was already in USD700m debt to PSI.
This was due to the three assets injected by PSI were purportedly of higher value than what PSI had agreed to contribute in the joint-venture.
According to Shahrol, 1MDB agreed to contribute USD1b for 40 percent subscription of the joint-venture, while PSI injected USD1.5b in assets.
The assets from PSI were then said to be of USD2.2b value, based on valuation prepared by a company hired by PSI.
1MDB-PSI joint-venture in USD700m debt due to purported higher value of PSI assets
10am: Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi starts his testimony today answering lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's questions on the mechanics of joint venture the company had with Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Ltd (PSI) in 2009.
Shahrol (below) explains to the court that the joint venture company called 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd was already in USD700m debt when he signed their joint-venture agreement on Sept 28, 2009.
He says this was due to three assets injected by PSI into the joint-venture entity was purportedly valued at USD2.2 billion, which was USD700m higher than the USD1.5b that PSI agreed to contribute.
When Shafee asks him to name the three assets, Shahrol says he can't remember their names except that one of them was oil fields in Turkmenistan, and two other assets in Argentina and Canada.
The court also hears from Shahrol that 1MDB board of directors, however, had never seen ownership papers on these assets that were purportedly owned by PSI.
Defence team seeks documents MACC secured from ex-Petro Saudi exec Justo
9.45am: Najib Abdul Razak's defence team seeks for documents that MACC received from former Petro Saudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo.
Lawyer Al Firdaus Shahrul Naing informs the High Court of this application, of which copies of the cause papers have been just served on the prosecution this morning.
Lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram then applies for a case management date to allow them time to reply.
Sri Ram says this is because the prosecution needs to check with MACC as some of the officers may be investigating other cases and not be in Kuala Lumpur.
Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah then fixes Oct 31 for case management of the application.
According to the online cause list at ecourtservices.kehakiman.gov.my, the application lists Najib as the applicant and the prosecution as respondent, for the matter before Sequerah this morning.
The application by Najib's defence team seeks for the MACC to hand over documents purportedly contained in Justo's pendrive, which is reported to be purportedly in the prosecution's custody.
The application was made under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code, and Section 60(3) of the Evidence Act.
Section 51A of the CPC refers to the prosecution's need to supply court documents before commencement of trial, and situation where the court may allow accused to examine certain court documents even after trial has commenced.
Section 60 (3) of the Evidence Act refers to situation where court may order the production of material thing or document for its inspection if oral evidence make reference to it.
9.39am: Accused Najib Abdul Razak enters the dock as proceedings begin.
The 25th day of Najib Abdul Razak's RM2.28 billion 1MDB trial goes on today following a two-day gap in proceedings this week.
Hearing before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah did not proceed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the accused former prime minister needing to attend to oral submissions in his separate RM42 million SRC International case at another court.
With the 1MDB trial being less than half a day on Monday due to Najib's lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah needing to go for an eye check-up, the defence today will have the whole day to resume cross-examination of the ninth prosecution witness, the sovereign wealth fund's ex-CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
Three days ago, the star witness testified that the planned ceremony at Putrajaya for the official signing of the joint-venture project between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International Limited (PSI) on Sept 29, 2009, never took place.
Shahrol told the court that he and then-PSI CEO Tarek Obaid signed the agreement separately instead of an earlier planned official ceremony featuring then-premier Najib and the late Saudi King Abdullah Abdul Aziz al-Saud. - Mkini
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