I don’t know why claims in separate suit changed, says ex-1MDB CEO

 Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi says his role as a witness in the civil suit was just to tell the truth and not to assign blame to any party.

Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi rejected a suggestion that he had made a deal with 1MDB in exchange for his testimony.

KUALA LUMPUR:

Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi told the High Court today that he did not know why allegations made against him by the company in a separate suit filed in August 2021 had changed.

The 56-year-old was testifying as the fourth plaintiff witness in 1MDB’s US$5.64 billion (RM22.81 billion) civil suit filed in May 2021 against eight defendants, including former prime minister Najib Razak.

During cross-examination, senior counsel GK Ganesan, representing former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan, referred Shahrol to allegations made against him in a suit filed by 1MDB against Deutsche Bank and other parties in August 2021.

Ganesan took Shahrol through several paragraphs of 1MDB’s statement of claim in that suit, in which the company allegedly accused him of fraudulent breach of duty, fraudulent breach of trust and corporate irresponsibility.

When asked why 1MDB had levelled those allegations against him in the separate suit while calling him as a witness in the present proceedings, Shahrol replied that the question should be put to the company.

Counsel also inquired whether Shahrol had been summoned to testify in court, to which he responded in the affirmative, adding that his role was to tell the truth and not to assign blame to any party.

He also rejected the suggestion that he had entered into an arrangement with 1MDB in exchange for his testimony.

Ganesan: Now that 1MDB itself has accused you of these irregularities, you have no credibility as a witness here for 1MDB?

Shahrol: I have no comments.

Ganesan: So you made a deal, to use an English colloquial phrase, to finger my client Kelvin Tan and Datuk Seri Najib?

Shahrol: I came to tell the truth, not to blame anybody.

1MDB and its subsidiaries – 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, 1MDB Energy Ltd, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd and Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd, formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Ltd – filed the civil suit on May 7, 2021.

They named Najib, 1MDB’s former finance director Terrence Geh, former executive director Casey Tang, former general counsel Jasmine Loo, Vincent Beng, former chief financial officer Radhi Mohamad, Kelvin Tan, and former chief investment officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, as defendants.

Last week, 1MDB dropped its civil suit against Radhi, with no liberty to refile. The company had previously removed Jasmine from the case as well.

The writ of summons stated that the plaintiffs, among other things, accused the defendants of breach of trust, breach of statutory duty, abuse of power and conspiracy to misappropriate 1MDB funds.

The trial before judicial commissioner Redzuan Idrus resumes next Wednesday. - FMT