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KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told that the proposal of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) for the acquisition of Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd (TEHSB) at a bid price of RM10.6bil was the decision of the top management of 1MDB, in consultation with Goldman Sachs.
The final decision was by the full board of directors after being briefed by the management, reported BK.
1MDB’s former general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, 50, said former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was the chairman of the 1MDB board of advisers, did not give any directives pertaining to the proposal nor the final decisions.
The 50th prosecution witness said this during cross-examination by counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah at Najib’s corruption and money-laundering trial involving RM2.3bil of 1MDB funds.
Muhammad Shafee: Did Najib say it was his decision?
Loo: No, I don’t believe he had said that.
Muhammad Shafee: He did not direct the decision, am I right?
Loo: Yes, true.
Loo also said she had prepared the shareholder resolution and passed it to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, to obtain Najib’s approval.
In 2019, former 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi testified that Najib had approved the proposal in February 2012.
Shahrol Azral also told the court that 1MDB Energy Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of 1MDB, had acquired TEHSB at a bid price of RM10.6bil and Najib had signed the document in his capacity as a special shareholder through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated.
He was also confident that Najib, who was holding the portfolio of finance minister at that time, was aware of the details of the transaction, based on the talking points given by Jho Low via email and BlackBerry Messenger.
Najib, 70, is facing four charges of using his position as prime minister to obtain bribes, totalling RM2.3bil from 1MDB funds, and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues today.
