Ex-1MDB CEO says he did not treat Jho Low like he was the Prime Minister

KUALA LUMPUR: At the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday (Aug 18), Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, the former Chief Executive Officer of the strategic development company 1Malaysia Development Berhad, denied that he had treated Low Taek Jho in the same way he would treat the Malaysian Prime Minister. 

The fugitive businessman, also known as Jho Low, is the central figure in the 1MDB scandal. According to the United States’ Department of Justice, around S$6 billion had been siphoned from 1MDB and had, at least in part, funded the lavish lifestyle of Mr Low and his associates.

According to reporting from Free Malaysia Today, Mr Shahrol Azral added, however, that he and former Prime Minister Najib Razak had communicated through Mr Low and other informal channels.

The former 1MDB chief also said during his cross-examination that he did not know if Mr Low had told the former Prime Minister regarding a dispute between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan concerning the ownership of the Serdar oil field that was linked to a joint venture deal worth RM1 billion between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International

In the course of the cross examination from GK Ganesan, who represents Kelvin Tan, a former 1MDB investment director, the lawyer said to Mr Shahrol Azral, “For all intents and purposes, you treated Jho Low as if he were the prime minister of Malaysia.”

Mr Shahrol Azral disagreed with this, however.

In August 2021, when Mr Najib was on trial, Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, who had also served as 1MDB’s CEO, claimed to have been “led by the nose” by Mr Low. He said that Mr Low’s instructions were tantamount to those coming from the Prime Minister. 

This went on despite Mr Low not having any official designation within 1MDB, Mr Mohd Hazem said, adding that the businessman would be present at meetings with the former Prime Minister at his home.

The Malay Mail reported at the time that Mr Mohd Hazem said that Terence Geh and Jasmine Loo, the company’s senior management officials, while supposedly under his supervision, were ultimately loyal to Mr Low.

Mr Geh and Ms Loo acted upon instructions from Mr Low, he said, which Mr Mohd Hazem did not correct because in him, the businessman and the Prime Minister were equated together. 

The former CEO told Mr Najib’s lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, during a cross-examination that Mr Geh and Ms Loo “are the people of Jho Low, and Jho Low basically is the prime minister.” /TISG

Read also: Still wanted in Singapore: Police say red notice for Jho Low still in effect despite pardon appeal to Trump