Najib 1mdb Trial Day 32 Jho Low A Reliable Channel Of Contact Between Najib And Me Shahrol

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The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged abuse of power and money laundering of 1MDB funds enters its 32nd day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings


Summary of Najib’s 1MDB ‘donation’ caseNajib is facing 25 charges of receiving RM2.28 billion, which originated from 1MDB through Tanore Finance Corp, a company owned by Eric Tan, a close associate of fugitive businessperson Jho Low
21 money laundering charges4 abuse of power chargesClick to view information on judge, prosecution and defence teamKEY HIGHLIGHTSJho Low a reliable channel of contact between Najib and me: ShahrolProsecution objects to defence's pattern of cross-examination1MDB transferred US$330m to Good Star’s account instead of PSIJho Low associate Jasmine Loo 'on the lam': ex-1MDB CEOJudge issues warning after multiple phone ring interruptionsShahrol disagrees board urged Najib to sign additional RM1b investment
Defence, witness argue on 1MDB board's additional RM1b loan approvalJho Low a reliable channel of contact between Najib and me: Shahrol4.35pm - Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi considered Jho Low as a reliable channel of contact between him and then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak
The ninth prosecution witness testifies this during the cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah
Shafee is asking Shahrol why the latter did not take additional measures such as checking with the 1MDB board before agreeing to the sovereign wealth fund sending a scheduled five additional tranches to 1MDB-Petrosaudi Limited between May and Oct 2011
Shahrol testifies that he had relied on the representation by Jho Low in regards to this matter
Najib was also then chairperson of the 1MDB board of advisors
Shafee: Would it not have been prudent on your part to take it up with the board or to check with Najib himself
Shahrol: At that time, I considered Jho (Low) to be a reliable channel of contact between me and Najib
Shafee: You did not take extra measures to check on the issue or check with the board
Shahrol: No (I did not)
Prosecution objects to defence's pattern of cross-examination3.35pm - Lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram (below) objects to lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's pattern of cross-examination on former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi

The former federal court judge informs High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that Najib Abdul Razak's defence team must disclose the rationale of the defence’s questioning on the ninth prosecution witness
Shafee had been cross-examining Shahrol for a total of 15 days, beginning from Oct 7 until today
Shafee was previously reported to have said earlier this week that the defence has covered more than half of the questions they intend to ask Shahrol
"We have been patiently listening to this. There must be a destination and rationale from my learned friend (Shafee on his cross-examination of Shahrol). They have to disclose it," Sri Ram tells the court
Shafee explains that the defence is trying to find out whether Shahrol and others in 1MDB had been willfully blind and acting in a conspiracy with wanted businessperson Jho Low
The pattern of the cross-examination has the defence painting Jho Low as being the main person behind the 1MDB dealings while Najib had been unaware of all this
"The point is the whole of 1MDB, the CEO and accountant (Mohamed Radhi) and others
"In spite of this being very obvious to any reader, his (Shahrol) suspicion (of transactions involving billions of ringgit from in and out of 1MDB) was not alerted
"If this a professional lie, Shahrol can say in spite of this (he was) not suspicious
“This same witness (Shahrol) made the same imputation on my client (Najib). Imputation (that Najib) knew Jho Low
“I want him (Shahrol) to swallow his own vomit," Shafee says on his reasons to keep raising the same documents in court to question Shahrol
Sequerah orders Shafee to keep the referring to documentation briefer and said there was no necessity to read the entire document again
"Those matters are quite lengthy, no need to read (the entire document). Just summarise," the judge tells Shafee, to which the lawyer agrees
1MDB transferred US$330m to Good Star’s account instead of PSI3.25pm - The cross-examination by the defence on former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi continues with a focus on the transfer of US$330 million (equivalent to RM1 billion) in several tranches by the company to an account in 2011
Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah questions the witness over the events in May 2011 when 1MDB instructed AmIslamic Bank to transfer tranches of US$65 million, which was supposedly an additional loan to PSI Holdings
According to the cross-examination, the bank had queried 1MDB when they found that the account number provided for the transfer did not match the name of beneficiary intended by 1MDB, which was PSI Holdings
Shahrol agrees that he later knew the bank account number at JP Morgan Chase Bank, as provided by Tarek Obaid of PSI Holdings, actually belonged to Good Star Ltd
It had been established earlier that Good Star is a company that was owned by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low
Shafee then confronts Shahrol over the mistake, as this was the second time such a "mistake" happened, the first one being in 2009 when 1MDB transferred US$700 million to the same account number
It had been established earlier in the trial that the 1MDB management did not know who the account owner was when they transferred US$700 million in 2009, which was meant for a joint-venture company by 1MDB and Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Ltd
However, Shahrol tells the court that he did not memorise Good Star’s account number, which was why he could not recognise it when signing the transfer instructions in 2011
Pressed further by Shafee if he agrees that this was negligence on 1MDB’s part, Shahrol disagrees
Shafee: You are sending a lot of money belonging to 1MDB. Not a small amount. We are now no longer in the bracket of millions, but billions. Not determining who is Good Star is negligence
Shahrol: I disagree
Shafee: Would you agree there is no diligence from your part
Shahrol: Disagree
Jho Low associate Jasmine Loo 'on the lam': ex-1MDB CEO3.02pm - Ex-1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi describes the sovereign wealth fund's former general counsel Jasmine Loo (below) as being "on the lam"

The ninth prosecution witness testifies this when lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asks the former if he has seen Loo since the 1MDB scandal broke out
Shafee: Do you know where Jasmine Loo is (now)
Shahrol: She is on the lam
Shafee: You have had no contact with her
Shahrol: No
The authorities are still seeking Loo and several alleged associates of wanted businessperson Jho Low in relation to the probe into the 1MDB case
Besides Loo, the authorities are also looking for 1MDB executive director Casey Tang, and the company’s director Terence Geh, among others
2.33pm - Proceedings resume after lunch break.
12.41pm - The court adjourns for lunch break, and proceedings will resume at 2.30pm
Judge issues warning after multiple phone ring interruptions12.35pm - Multiple incidents of short bursts of phones ringing during proceedings made High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah issue a stern warning
The judge warns that the court will not hesitate to direct the court police officer to seize any phone that rings during trial
"I will not hesitate to order the (court) police to confiscate the phones," Sequerah warns, adding that it does not matter whose phone is it that rings during the proceedings
Shahrol disagrees board urged Najib to sign additional RM1b investment11.53pm - Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi disagrees with the defence's assertion that the sovereign fund's board of directors recommended for its preference rights shareholder to sign an agreement to give additional RM1 billion investment in the 1MDB-Petrosaudi venture
The former 1MDB CEO is disagreeing with lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's assertion during the cross-examination
Shafee's question is over Paragraph 311 of Shahrol's Witness Statement which referred to a Special Rights Redeemable Preference Shareholder Resolution dated May 16, 2011

In his Witness Statement, Shahrol testified that Najib (above), in his then capacity as finance minister via Minister of Finance Incorporated, signed an agreement for the additional RM1 billion investments in the 1MDB-Petrosaudi joint venture via Murabaha Financing Agreement
"I do not agree the board (got) Najib to sign," Shahrol says, adding that it is also wrong to suggest that the board unambiguously had recommended for Najib to sign
Defence, witness argue on 1MDB board's additional RM1b loan approval11.45am - The court sees lead defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and a witness getting into an argument over 1MDB board of directors' (BOD) approval for an additional RM1 billion loan to PSI Holdings on May 16, 2011
This comes as Shafee's line of questioning during his cross-examination of former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, focuses on a directors' circular resolution signed by the company's BOD on that date
According to the DCR, the minute was signed on May 16, 2011, which was the same date when 1MDB board members had convened for a meeting in London
Shahrol testifies that the DCR matter was mentioned during the meeting, and all board members had signed the paper after they concluded the meeting
This brings Shafee to query the ninth prosecution witness further on the need for a DCR when the board had already convened for a meeting
"You know, DCR got no discussion. How DCR works is when you cannot convene a meeting, you issue a DCR
"But here the directors are at the meeting, (they are at) the same table, it was a full turn up, why was this subject matter not discussed?" Shafee asks Shahrol
The lawyer also points out to Shahrol that there was no evidence of the DCR being discussed by board members during the meeting as the meeting minutes had no mention of such discussion
Shahrol, however, disputes this, stressing the board was fully aware about the DCR and that it was not recorded in the May 16, 2011 meeting minutes as they have deliberated about the matter during an earlier meeting
Shafee then puts to the witness that this was not true, suggesting that the DCR matter was never raised in the meeting for board members to discuss
Shafee: I’m putting to you this was purposely not put before the board, for the board to have a full discussion on DCR
Shahrol: Absolutely disagree
10.17am - Najib Abdul Razak enters the dock as proceedings begin
His lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah resumes his cross-examination of former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi
Also seen in court is lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram and other members of the prosecution team
9.55am - Accused Najib Abdul Razak enters the High Court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery to await proceedings to begin
Earlier, the former prime minister was attending a mention at a separate High Court for his 1MDB audit report tampering case
Najib Abdul Razak's defence team has finally crossed the halfway mark in their questioning of former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi since cross-examination began on Oct 7

This was indicated by the former prime minister's lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (above) during proceedings at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday
Shafee had told judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that the defence has completed more than half of the questions to be levelled against key 9th prosecution witness Shahrol
The veteran legal practitioner is expected to pick up cross-examination from where he left off yesterday, which was on the minutes of 1MDB board meetings in early 2011
The questioning was focused on a part located more than halfway point in Shahrol's 270-page witness statement
Among others, Shahrol had testified that in a 1MDB board meeting in April 2011, the sovereign wealth fund's directors decided to give him a salary raise from RM80,000 to RM90,000 a month due to him having exceeded expectations
The 32nd day of Najib's RM2.28 billion trial before Sequerah will start a bit later after 9.30am as lead deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Gopal Sri Ram and Shafee had to attend to another court matter before they could come for the proceedings
As a result, the judge had set for today's proceedings to end later at 6.15pm this afternoon
Shahrol has been on the witness stand for 21 days, which is about one-third of the hearing so far. He has been cross-examined by the defence for 14 days. - Mkini

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