Today, the High Court heard that neither the management of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) nor several bank officers conspired to defraud former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Malaysian public regarding 1MDB’s investment funds.
Senior Superintendent Nur Aida Ariffin, 37, an investigating officer from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), disputed claims made by Najib’s lawyer, Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin. Wan Azwan Aiman had asserted that former 1MDB CEO Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman and former CFO Azmi Tahir had collaborated with officers from BSI Bank and Aabar Investments PJS Ltd to deceive Najib into believing that 1MDB's investment funds were being returned to the company in 2014.
During cross-examination, Wan Azwan Aiman suggested that Azmi and Mohd Hazem, both holding high positions in 1MDB, knew that the company’s funds were purportedly invested overseas through Brazen Sky Ltd, an entity that allegedly did not exist. Nur Aida refuted this, disagreeing with the notion that the two executives orchestrated a sham to create the illusion that the investments had been redeemed.
Wan Azwan Aiman pressed further, claiming that with the assistance of BSI bank officers and Aabar officers, Azmi and Mohd Hazem had successfully carried out a deception to convince Najib and the public that the 1MDB investment funds had been repatriated. Again, Nur Aida disagreed.
Additionally, Nur Aida did not concur with the suggestion that 1MDB’s application for a loan from Deutsche Bank was intended to create an impression for Najib that the overseas investments had been redeemed.
On November 16, 2021, Azmi, the 12th prosecution witness, testified that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, had advised Najib not to discuss 1MDB’s investments related to Brazen Sky Ltd during a meeting with audit firm KPMG Malaysia. Brazen Sky Ltd was established by Jho Low and his associates on July 12, 2012, as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to manage repatriated investment funds for 1MDB.
Azmi recalled that Najib had questioned KPMG for continuing to harbor suspicions about the ‘underlying assets’ of the Brazen Sky investment, despite BSI Bank presenting the investment statement during the meeting.
In today’s proceedings, Nur Aida admitted that she had not shown Najib several documents allegedly signed by him concerning the US$975 million (RM4.5 billion) loan from Deutsche Bank during her investigation. However, she confirmed knowing Najib had signed the documents based on the interrogation of Mohd Hazem.
Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totaling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds, along with 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial, presided over by Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, is set to continue on Monday.
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