Former 1MDB board member Ismee Ismail testified today that Najib Abdul Razak’s ‘fingerprints’ were not seen in relation to the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s US$2.3 billion ‘investment’ in a British Virgin Islands-based fund.
The 13th prosecution witness of the former prime minister’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial was concurring with lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah over whether there were signs that Najib - as the then chairperson of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s board of advisers - was involved in the suspicious transaction.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court previously heard testimony about the suspicious US$2.3 billion “investment” in Brazen Sky Ltd, which was incorporated in BVI.
The prosecution contended that the purported investment was part of a convoluted monetary trail with the intent of putting funds into Najib’s personal accounts.
The prosecution previously contended that the money trail into Brazen Sky was part of Phase 1 of the multi-jurisdictional monetary trail, with the total number of phases being four.
While under Shafee’s cross-examination today, Ismee (above) concurred that management - under then 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi - mishandled the issue of investment into Brazen Sky.
Shafee: It goes to the heart of our defence, with what you have seen, do you see anywhere the fingerprints of my client, with what has been done with the way management mishandled this?
Ismee: No.
He also testified that the fund’s management seemed to be acting on the instructions of businessperson Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
The prosecution contended that Low’s involvement in the 1MDB affair was on the authority of Najib.
The former premier’s defence team claimed that the accused had no knowledge of wrongdoing and that the misappropriation at 1MDB was solely masterminded by Low and several members of the fund’s management.
The trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow.
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.
Besides being prime minister at the time of the alleged offence, Najib was also the finance minister and chairperson of 1MDB's board of advisers.
1MDB was owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram. - Mkini
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