A former 1MDB CEO testified in court today that his last drawn salary before exiting the company in 2013 was RM99,000 a month.
Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi said he initially earned a monthly salary of RM80,000 when he first joined 1MDB in 2009. The company was then known as the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).
This was apart from the allowances he received as a member of the company’s board of directors.
Testifying under examination-in-chief by DPP Gopal Sri Ram on the 16th day of 1MDB criminal trial against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, Shahrol said he received an annual allowance of RM179,000 as a board member.
The witness added that for every board meeting he attended, he would also get RM1,500 allowance.
According to Shahrol, the salary he received when joining the company was fixed by the board, which was then chaired by Bakke Salleh.
Sri Ram: Did you partake in that decision (making)?
Shahrol: No.
Sri Ram: Did you receive any increment in your salary?
Shahrol: Yes. In 1MDB, every year the Human Resources (Department) would engage an external consultant to benchmark what would be the market increment. I also received increments like other staff as well.
Sri Ram: How much?
Shahrol: I don’t remember, as it varies every year. But my last drawn salary from 1MDB was RM99,000.
The DPP then asked if the RM99,000 salary was before or after tax, to which the witness said it was before taxation.
Sri Ram (photo) then quipped that he was in the wrong profession, causing the others in the courtroom to turn to stitches.
Najib happy with Shahrol’s performance
Along with the salary and allowances, the court also heard that Shahrol received bonuses during his years as the company’s chief executive.
Once he was awarded an 18-month bonus payout which totalled to over RM1.4 million, as Shahrol said he was earning around RM80,000 at that time.
He however could not remember exactly if the bonus was for the financial year of 2011 or 2012.
According to Shahrol’s testimony, the bonus payout was after he was told by businessperson Jho Low that Najib was pleased with his (Shahrol) performance in the company.
Low had informed Shahrol this a few days after the witness had personally spoken to Najib on the phone, where the then prime minister wanted to know about the status of CSR projects that 1MDB was doing through its foundation.
“What is interesting is that a few days later, Low told me that he spoke to Najib, who mentioned to him about that call, and he (Low) told me that, if I recall the word (correctly), was ‘boss was pleased’ and ‘Shahrol was on top of things’,” the witness said.
Ex-1MDB CEO says he was briefed by Rahman Dahlan before PAC grilling
Former 1MDB chief executive Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi said he was coached by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho who also arranged for him to meet with BN members within the Public Accounts Committee before he was actually questioned by the panel on the beleaguered state-owned fund in 2010.
Among the BN members within the PAC, he met was then Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Shahrol told the Kuala Lumpur High Court during former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 1MDB graft trial today.
“Similarly, I was given talking points by Jho on the information to be covered during the PAC meeting.
“He had also arranged for me to meet with one or two BN members of the PAC before the actual meeting.
“I met Rahman Dahlan, who was a member of the committee at the time and we talked about the kind of questions the PAC would be asking,” he said under examination by lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram.
Gopal then asked if the questions discussed with Rahman were actually the ones asked when he finally faced the PAC, to which Shahrol replied: “Approximately, yes”.
Asked why he was briefed before the PAC meeting, Shahrol said the objective was to downplay Najib and Low’s role in 1MDB.
“Number one is to minimise or to downplay Najib and Jho Low’s involvement in the decision-making in SRC International and 1MDB.
“And number two is (to say) all these was a political attack against the prime minister,” he said.
Abdul Rahman was appointed at the urban well-being, housing and local government minister in 2013.
Shahrol said he was grilled by the PAC for the second time in 2015 when the 1MDB issue blew up and was likewise briefed ahead, but added that were also post-PAC meetings.
In one of the post-PAC meetings, Shahrol said he was briefed by then PAC chairperson Hasan Arifin who is the Rompin MP on what will eventually go into the committee’s report on 1MDB.
Najib is facing 25 charges of money laundering and abuse of power over the alleged misappropriation of RM2.28 billion from 1MDB.
The trial is before Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
– M’kini
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