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KUALA LUMPUR – The high court was told today that the presence of Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the meeting with the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) board of directors and representatives from PetroSaudi International (PSI) in London in May 2011 showed that the 1MDB-PSI joint venture was justified.
Former 1MDB non-executive director Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, 57, said the meeting was held in a suite that Najib stayed in at Dorchester Hotel in London during a visit by the 1MDB board of directors to the PSI office in May 2011.
“During the visit, we (members of the board of directors) were taken to the PSI office and had lunch together. Subsequently, we attended a meeting with Najib and two former PSI directors, Patrick Mahoney and Tarek Obaid, in the suite.
“As I recall, I also saw fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low in the suite,” he said, adding that Low did not join in the meeting.
The 13th prosecution witness said this when reading his witness statement in the corruption and money laundering trial involving RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds faced by the former prime minister.
Earlier, Ismee said the visit to the PSI office in London was arranged by the 1MDB management at the request of 1MDB chairman Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamarudin because 1MDB had no information on PSI and wanted to meet the company’s representatives face to face.
“The meeting was held when Najib was in London but I am not sure why it had to be held when he (Najib) was there.
“The presence of Najib at Dorchester Hotel showed that the joint venture between 1MDB and PSI was right. The board of directors were also satisfied when they saw the PSI office and felt that the company was a legitimate one,” he said.
However, Ismee said no specific agendas were discussed and the meeting was generally about the investments between PSI and 1MDB.
Earlier, the court was told that on September 28, 2009, 1MDB had signed a joint venture with PSI, with 1MDB having to pay US$1 billion (RM4.2 billion) for its 40% shareholding in the company, while PetroSaudi Holdings Cayman, a company said to be a subsidiary of PSI, only pumped in assets worth US$108 million for 60% of the equity.
Meanwhile, Ismee said he and former 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi agreed to sign a resolution to discontinue the issuance of the RM5 billion Islamic Medium Term Notes on May 22, 2009 because Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin wanted it so.
“After we signed the resolution, we met Najib at his residence in Jalan Langgat Duta to explain what had transpired during our meeting with Sultan Mizan at Istana Terengganu.
“After listening to our explanation, Najib’s first response at that time was ‘why did you sign it?’ and why we did not did not seek an extension from His Highness to give us time to think.
“I could only tell Najib that it was a directive from His Highness, so there was nothing we could do. I could see from Najib’s reaction and the tone of his voice that he wanted the issuance of the bonds to proceed,” he said.
Najib, 68, is facing four charges, namely using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow. – Bernama, November 17, 2021