KUALA LUMPUR: The former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi was “very eager” to push for the federalisation of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) which eventually evolved into (1MDB), the High Court was told today.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s counsel, Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin said Shahrol Azral had persistently urged the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) to take over all of TIA’s shares from its special shareholder, Menteri Besar Terengganu Incorporated (MBTI).
“It is clear that although the Cabinet made the decision to federalise TIA on Sept 29, 2009, the proposition and the driving forces behind such a decision indeed did not originate from the former prime minister.
“It is undoubtedly hypocritical to attribute the Cabinet’s decision to Datuk Seri Najib’s abuse of power when the same court records also show Shahrol Azral’s repeated correspondences to the Prime Minister, proposing that MOF Inc purchase TIA’s ordinary shares from MBTI and assuring Najib that MOF Inc did not need parliamentary consent to take over TIA,“ he said.
Wan Azwan Aiman was making his submission at the close of the prosecution’s case today before Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
The defence contended that Shahrol Azral’s repeated request to Najib to federalise TIA, in all events, cleared up two major misunderstandings.
“First, it shows that federalising TIA was not a part of Datuk Seri Najib’s grand scheme for gratification and secondly, it proves that his decision therein was never predicated on both compelling and legitimate reasonings,“ said the lawyer.
Wan Azwan Aiman further argued that the first part of the charge against Najib could not be used to invoke the presumption under Section 23(2) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, as there was no demonstrable evidence of Najib’s personal interest in the decision to federalise TIA.
“In fact, without it, the entire alleged offence fails,“ he said.
Najib, 71, faces four charges of abusing his position to obtain RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds at the AmIslamic Bank Berhad branch on Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
He also faces 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount at the same bank between March 22, 2013 and Aug 30, 2013.
Najib is charged under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009 and Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act.
The submission resumes this afternoon.
