Najib’s Cabinet approved US$3bil bond support letter, says witness
Najib Razak is on trial for abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds of RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014. (Bernama pic)
KUALA LUMPUR: Ex-prime minister Najib Razak secured his Cabinet’s unanimous approval for the issuance of a letter of support to raise US$3 billion for a joint venture between 1MDB and an Abu Dhabi state investor, the High Court heard today.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Nur Aida Arifin admitted this when cross-examined by lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin.
The 49th prosecution witness said Najib had, in his capacity as finance minister at the time, presented a memo on March 13, 2013, to secure the Cabinet’s sanction.
Najib signed a letter of support the following day for 1MDB Global Investment Limited (1MDB GIL), a subsidiary of 1MDB, to issue the bond.
In her testimony, Aida also agreed that Najib had no personal interest in presenting to the Cabinet a memorandum seeking that the funds be raised in the financial market.
Wan Azwan: I put it to you that Najib had no personal interest when he submitted the memo to the Cabinet.
Aida: Yes.
Wan Azwan: But you had said earlier that Najib’s action in signing the letter of support was an abuse of power.
Aida: Yes.
In its opening statement read on Aug 28, 2019, the prosecution claimed that 1MDB had entered into a joint venture with Aabar, a subsidiary of IPIC, to conduct business at the Tun Razak Exchange in Kuala Lumpur.
A sum of US$3 billion was to be raised for the venture, with Goldman Sachs acting as arranger for the bond.
The statement claimed that to avoid detection, a sum of US$681 million from the US$3 billion was channelled via a circuitous route and deposited into Najib’s bank accounts in nine tranches between March 21, 2013 and April 10, 2013.
The US$681 million sum forms the subject matter of the third abuse of power charge faced by Najib.
In September 2022, former Treasury deputy secretary-general Siti Zauyah Desa testified that the letter of support issued by Putrajaya to secure the US$3 billion bond had been done in haste.
She said it was the first time in her 25-year stint with the finance ministry that a transaction had been done in such an “abnormal” manner.
Siti Zauyah said the speed at which the transaction was carried out had resulted in the ministry’s failure to follow proper procedures, which would have included conducting due diligence on the proposed investment and drawing up a projected cash flow.
Najib is standing trial for 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah has been adjourned to Thursday.