Najib did not respond to SMS over 1MDB’s state of affairs, says ex-chairman

 

Former 1MDB chairman Bakke Salleh says he found it ‘unusual’ for Najib Razak not to reply to his text messages.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1MDB chairman Bakke Salleh told the High Court in Najib Razak’s money laundering and power abuse trial the former prime minister did not respond to his concerns on the company’s state of affairs.

He said he sent an SMS to Najib shortly before he left 1MDB in October 2009.

“I informed him about several matters instructed by the board of directors to the management but were not followed,” he said.

“It did not cross my mind to report to any (other) relevant authorities on the financial misconduct of the management because I assumed I had already done so through my SMS to Datuk Seri Najib.

“Since my concerns did not get his (Najib) attention as he did not reply to my SMS, I had a feeling he was involved and something wrong was happening without my knowledge.”

To a question from ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram on whether he found it “unusual” for Najib not to reply to such text messages, Bakke answered in the affirmative.

He said among the issues that he was not happy with was the US$700 million transfer to a firm known as Good Star Ltd. He said the transfer was never discussed with him and other directors.

Previously, the court heard that 1MDB had, in 2009, entered into a joint venture with PetroSaudi International Ltd, or PSI, and that under the contract terms, it needed to fork out US$1 billion for the venture.

The US$1 billion was supposed to be deposited into the 1MDB-PSI joint venture account, but only US$300 million was moved into the account. It was later revealed that Good Star was controlled by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.

Bakke also told the court he met former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi some time in 2015, when the authorities launched their investigations into the sovereign fund.

“Shahrol told me he had the mandate from the prime minister (Najib) to transfer those funds.

“However, he did not show me any documents to support what he told me,” he said.

Najib showed ‘strong interest’ in US$1 billion PSI joint venture

Bakke also testified that he spoke to Najib on Sept 18, 2009, shortly before a 1MDB board of directors’ meeting.

He said Jho Low was present at the meeting.

“It was not awkward for Jho Low to attend because he was previously present at TIA’s (Terengganu Investment Authority) steering committee meetings.

“Before the meeting started, Jho Low passed me his mobile phone and said ‘PM (Najib) on the line, wants to speak to you,” he said.

He said Najib told him he would “like the board of directors to quickly consider this proposal (PSI joint venture) and firm up a decision” as the joint venture was a government-to-government (G2G) initiative with Saudi Arabia.

“He also told me he was ‘looking forward’ to the joint venture signing ceremony.

“In the telephone conversation, he showed a strong interest in wanting to proceed with the investment quickly”.

Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited in his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

The hearing before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues. - FMT