Ex-1MDB CFO: Najib ‘ultimate power’ in 1MDB, ‘proxy’ Jho Low said orders came from PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the “ultimate power” in government-owned company 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as all important financial decisions had to be approved by him as the prime minister then, former chief financial officer Azmi Tahir told the High Court today.

Azmi, 48, was testifying as the 12th prosecution witness in Najib’s trial in relation to more than RM2 billion of funds misappropriated from 1MDB.

Today, Azmi also testified of how now-fugitive Low Taek Jho was seen as the proxy, adviser, trusted right-hand man for Najib in 1MDB affairs, and how an official in the Prime Minister’s Department had also confirmed Low’s claim of Low’s orders being authorised or coming from Najib himself.

How Jho Low came into the picture

Taking the witness stand for the first time in this trial, Azmi, who was a former banker said he had joined 1MDB on June 1, 2012 as its chief financial officer, adding that his close friend Datuk Azlin Alias who was then the director of the economic division in the Prime Minister’s Department had contacted him shortly after that.

Azmi said Azlin wanted to introduce him to and have him meet an important person in 1MDB who is Low — better known as Jho Low, noting: “This was the first time I heard of an individual named Jho Low who was introduced as 1MDB adviser to Datuk Seri Najib.”

Azmi said he then met alone with Low for the first time in a meeting arranged by Azlin, with the meeting held at Low’s office in KLCC in June 2012.

“During this first meeting, I was told by Jho Low that all instructions given by Datuk Azlin and Jho Low are mandates from Datuk Seri Najib. Therefore, I only have to follow those instructions,” he said.

After the meeting which Azlin had not attended, Azmi said he then checked with Azlin and that the latter confirmed what Low had said.

“Therefore starting from that, I will carry out each instruction received from Datuk Azlin and Jho Low because I believe those instructions are mandates from Datuk Seri Najib and I have to follow them,” he said today.

Azlin was Najib’s special officer and in 2014 became the prime minister’s principal private secretary.

Azmi described now-fugitive Low Taek Jho as the proxy, adviser, trusted right-hand man for Najib in 1MDB affairs. — Picture via Facebook

Belief that Low’s orders are approved by Najib

Azmi said Azlin’s role in 1MDB was to convey the wishes or instructions from then prime minister

Najib such as to 1MDB CEOs and 1MDB board of directors, adding that Azlin had instructed him to deal with Low and also officers from the Prime Minister’s Department such as Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin who was the prime minister’s special officer in the economic division.

Azmi said that Azlin had told him that Low is an “adviser or person close to the prime minister who is Datuk Seri Najib” and that Low’s instructions are from the prime minister.

Azmi added that he also understood Low to be close to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and was a trusted person to Najib.

“I only follow orders received from Datuk Azlin to deal with Jho Low and Datuk Amhari as I consider that to be orders from the prime minister,” he said.

Azmi today claimed that Low had planned secret actions for 1MDB with Najib’s alleged “blessing” and via the placement of selected persons in 1MDB’s senior management and board of directors to enable such secret moves to be done.

Azmi said there was a “work in silo” system in place in 1MDB with certain select officers who could be trusted to listen to both Low’s and Azlin’s instructions, adding that he was included in the system and received instructions from Low and Azlin in the form of “mandate” from the then prime minister Najib.

Azmi referred to the Memorandum and Articles of Association or the company constitution of 1MDB, which he said gave “ultimate power” to Najib.

“Officers that are in this work in silo system are forced to follow Jho Low’s instructions as each instruction from him is an instruction from Datuk Seri Najib, and this is in line with Article 117 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of 1MDB as each important decision has to be under the prime minister’s order and approval.

“Datuk Seri Najib is the person who has ultimate power in making any decisions especially involving investment, financial decision, and national interest,” Azmi said today.

Article 117 of the M&A states that the prior written approval of the prime minister was required for any amendments to the M&A, for the appointment and removal of the company’s directors and senior management team.

According to Article 117 M&A, the prime minister’s prior written approval was also required for any financial commitments by 1MDB, including investments or other matters likely to affect government guarantees, national interests, national security or government policies, with the government to make the “final and conclusive” decision on what amounts to national interests, national security and national policies.

Among other things, Azmi said Low was the “proxy” to Najib in managing 1MDB, and that Low had convinced him that all orders are from Najib as the prime minister and the person with the most power in decisions for 1MDB.

Azmi said the 1MDB senior management including himself would immediately carry out Low’s instructions as the latter would say Najib wanted it to be done immediately, adding that emails and Blackberry messages sent by Low on 1MDB matters allegedly show the latter’s role in relation to Najib.

“As a whole, to me, Jho Low’s role is very obvious as adviser to Datuk Seri Najib and it can also be said that Jho Low is a right-hand man to Datuk Seri Najib and also a person that is trusted by Datuk Seri Najib in this 1MDB matter,” he said.

Azmi said he had met Low for 1MDB matters several times, both in Malaysia and abroad including in Abu Dhabi and the US, with these meetings coinciding with Najib’s visits to those countries.

Azmi also said Low’s orders were consistent with Najib’s subsequent actions as the prime minister would approve them, noting: “Jho Low has no power to make decisions in 1MDB, but Jho Low is an important individual that carries the prime minister’s mandate.”

Azmi said he had frequently voiced his misgivings about 1MDB management and board decisions to colleague Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman — the chief operating officer who later became chief executive officer — but said he had continued working in 1MDB as he believed all actions were in line with the prime minister’s wishes.

Previously, 1MDB former CEO Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman had also as the 10^th prosecution witness described Low as a proxy for Najib and Najib’s 1MDB special adviser involving investment and fundraising, and had also described Najib to be the one running the show in 1MDB and being the “ultimate boss”. 

Former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi had as the ninth prosecution witness previously testified that he viewed Najib to be the ultimate figure of authority in 1MDB and like the “emperor” of that company.

Najib’s lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed regularly stood up throughout Azmi’s testimony to highlight the parts of the testimony that his client was objecting to due to alleged hearsay, including where Azmi claimed that Low had said his orders and Azlin’s orders were authorised by Najib.

The High Court will only be deciding on whether there is any hearsay in Azmi’s testimony at a later stage.

This is similar to Hazem’s situation, where the High Court had similarly noted Najib’s lawyers’ objections of hearsay and had said it would decide on whether there was hearsay in Hazem’s testimony at a later stage.

Wan Aizuddin had today gave notice to the court of objections to parts of Azmi’s testimony, based on either alleged hearsay due to Azmi citing information that another person --- such as the missing Low or the late Azlin --- told him or due to certain documents shown in court being photocopied versions and not the original copy.

The trial before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes next Monday.

MORE TO COME