Jho Low attended 1MDB board meeting as Prince Turki rep -- Najib's lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): The presence of Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) in a 1MDB board meeting was to represent Prince Turki Abdullah, the owner of PetroSaudi Inc, according to Shafee & Co, the law firm representing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in several ongoing criminal cases.

This has been revealed in Parliament on Dec 21, 2015 by the Finance Ministry, Shafee & Co said in a statement today. Low's presence was also discussed in the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee on 1MDB prior to that, on Nov 25, where the previous auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang was also present, the law firm said.

These revelations took place before the alleged order was given in February 2016 to remove mention of Jho Low's presence in a 1MDB board meeting -- according to the press statement by current Auditor-General Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad on the alleged tamperings -- the law firm said.

As for the presence of 1MDB president and CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy at several meetings with the 1MDB Audit Team, that is a standard audit process, it said, as the auditors and the audited would ordinarily meet to discuss the draft report for clarification and to correct any inaccuracies.

Najib will provide a more comprehensive explanation on the matters alleged, at the appropriate time, it said. 

But, as Najib's lawyers, it said it is concerned with Madinah's statement that was issued under orders of the Cabinet, which “seems to indicate that there were political undercurrent and considerations taken for the decision to issue the said press statement". 

The law firm also views the statement as an attempt to influence public opinion and to prejudice Najib before his trial, "which could amount to contempt of court as there are elements of attempt to prejudice our client's intended defences".  

It also noted that Najib was not contacted by the Auditor-General’s office for an explanation before the press statement was issued, and so he never given a chance to respond to the intended press release, which it said is “another serious breach of natural justice”.

"Even more concerning is that in the final paragraph of the Auditor-General’s statement, it has been disclosed that this matter has now been forwarded to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Royal Malaysian Police for investigation. While this may be the right of any person to lodge any police report,
we question the motive of disclosing this matter prematurely," Shafee & Co said.

As such, it said Madinah’s statement is not only premature but "against due process as it has effectively publicly accused our client first and investigate later".

"We strongly urge the relevant authority to exercise a greater degree of responsibility in future statements made pertaining to our client, and allow the natural process of justice to take place in a fair and equal manner consonant with the promise made by the current government that due process and the rule of law will be observed in order to give everyone a fair trial," it added.