Jho Low appeared to be Najib’s proxy, witness tells court

 

Jasmine Loo said all major decisions had to be discussed with Jho Low before they were approved by then prime minister Najib Razak, who was chairman of the 1MDB board of advisers.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo told the High Court today that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, always gave the impression he was close to former prime minister Najib Razak.

“We in 1MDB saw Jho Low as being Najib’s proxy as he (Najib) was also chairman of the 1MDB board of advisers,” she said.

She also said all major decisions had to be discussed with Low before they were approved by Najib.

Loo then identified Najib when deputy public prosecutor Deepa Nair Thevaharan asked if he was in the courtroom.

The witness said that when at 1MDB, she did not meet with Najib except in the presence of other company officials.

“Jho Low would ask me to prepare documents for Najib to sign. I do not know the details of how Jho Low was able to meet Najib to get his signature,” Loo said.

Earlier, Loo, 51, said she worked at Messrs Zain & Co in 1998 and rose to become a partner in the legal firm before leaving in 2008.

She then worked as a general counsel in UBG Bhd between 2009 and 2011 and later took on the same role at 1MDB until November 2013.

Loo said that when at UBG, she was in charge of the company’s legal affairs.

“It was during an interview that I met Jho Low who was a director of UBG,” she said, adding that she was paid RM45,000 in salary and allowances.

Loo then identified Low from a photograph shown to her by Deepa. Low remains a fugitive from the law as the police have been unsuccessful in their efforts to locate him.

The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Najib was slapped with 25 charges for abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014. - FMT