KUALALUMPUR, April 5 — Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) general counsel Jasmine Loo said Datuk Seri Najib Razak had ‘cleared’ her of wrongdoing in a written reply to Parliament back in 2017.
Loo said this while testifying as the 50th prosecution witness in Najib’s trial over the misappropriation of RM2.27 billion of 1MDB funds.
Under re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Deepa Nair Thevaharan, Loo was asked whether she knew of any action taken by Malaysian authorities after her statement was recorded in 2016 as part of the ongoing investigations into the fraud.
“I believe Najib has cleared me.
“As far as I know I recall seeing an article where a question was posed to Najib in Parliament about me and he replied that the investigations have been completed,” she said.
The prosecution had earlier cited to court a Malay Mail news article on Najib’s response to the Dewan Rakyat.
Based on archived checks on the Parliament’s official website, the aforementioned written reply was dated March 7, 2017.
In that question, then Kelana Jaya (now Subang) MP Wong Chen had asked if the Finance Ministry is working with the Immigrations Department to contact Loo and Casey Tang who were both 1MDB executives, and if the duo were still under Bank Negara Malaysia’s wanted list for investigations under the Exchange Control Act 1953.
In his reply, Najib said the investigation involving the two individuals have been completed and based on its outcome, enforcement action was taken against the company according to existing laws with consent from the Attorney General’s Chambers, whereby BNM had issued a compound letter to the 1MDB administration for failing to fully adhere to the orders issued under the Exchange Control Act.
Najib added that since 1MDB has paid the compound in full, there was no need for Tang and Loo to remain on the watch list “unless there is any new information regarding violation of laws governed under BNM”.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah then objected to the re-examination, noting that Najib’s reply had only mentioned BNM whereas investigations by the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission were ongoing.
Najib’s 1MDB trial before trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes April 22
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