1MDB trial: 'I would have repaid debts if I control every flow of funds'

 

1MDB TRIAL | The former chief financial officer of 1MDB has testified that he would have paid every debt if he truly had control of every sen involving the sovereign wealth fund and its subsidiaries.

Azmi Tahir told the Kuala Lumpur High Court this during today’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Defence counsel Hariharan Tara Singh had asked during cross-examination whether the 12th prosecution witness, in his then capacity as 1MDB CFO from 2012 to 2017, had control over every flow of funds out of the sovereign wealth fund and its subsidiaries.

Hariharan earlier today contended that Najib never gave instructions over any wrongful transfer of funds and that such monetary flow was masterminded by fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) in cahoots with Azmi and several other members of 1MDB’s management and board.

Hariharan: Even in terms of (1MDB) operations, as the CFO, you controlled the finances of the company and each of its subsidiaries?

Azmi: Yes, but I do not control every single sen, for example in terms of Edra (referring to Edra Global Energy Berhad, a power producer that a 1MDB subsidiary sold off to China General Nuclear Power Corporation for RM9,83 billion in cash in 2015). If it was entirely up to me, I would definitely pay debts.

1MDB is still in debt as of today.

Name-dropping

The witness also disagreed with the lawyer’s contention that the former would, with Jho Low, name-drop Najib's name to justify any alleged questionable transactions.

Azmi was responding to Hariharan’s questions about the former being led to believe by Najib’s late principal private secretary Azlin Alias that Jho Low is a close person to the accused and would convey directives from the former premier.

The witness explained that dropping Najib's name with the 1MDB board to justify financial transactions would not have worked, as the former was no one prior to joining the sovereign wealth fund.

“I do not name-drop. Before 1MDB, I was a nobody. These people (in the 1MDB board) are senior corporate figures,” the witness said.

Among those in the 1MDB board then were its chairperson Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, as well as directors such as Ismee Ismail.

During Azmi’s tenure as CFO, he served under two 1MDB CEOs, namely Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman.

Both ex-CEOs have previously testified against Najib in the criminal trial.

Proceedings before trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah will resume tomorrow morning.

Najib is on trial for four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion of 1MDB’s funds.

1MDB is fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).

Besides being the former premier, the accused also used to be finance minister and chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers.

The prosecution contended that Low, on the behest of Najib, had acted with several other 1MDB personnel to misappropriate billions of ringgit of funds from the sovereign wealth fund and, via a circuitous and complex financial route, to transfer part of the funds to the then premier’s account.

However, the defence team contended that Najib had no knowledge about wrongdoing at 1MDB and that the whole affair was masterminded completely by Low and several other members of the sovereign wealth fund. - Mkini