This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 10, 2020 - August 16, 2020

THE defence’s cross-examination of former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi last week moved to the third phase of the trial, which concerns a purported joint venture (JV) between 1MDB and Aabar Investments PJS Ltd in 2013 for the development of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX).

Appointed prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram had previously noted in his opening statement at the start of the trial that the JV forms the subject matter of the third charge against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Called Abu Dhabi Malaysia Investment Company (Admic) Ltd, the partnership was a 50:50 joint venture between 1MDB and Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (Aabar BVI), a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (see main story).

The JV company was initially registered as Malaysian Abu Dhabi Investment Company (Madic) on March 5, 2013, but its name was changed to Admic a week later, in what seems to be a modus operandi of Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) to ensure his offshore companies appear similar to well established companies.

Admic is also the acronym for Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp, a private investment company in Abu Dhabi owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and British Sky Broadcasting.

When asked by defence counsel Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed about the name change, Shahrol said, “What was told to me by Jho Low was a bit funny. He told me that the Abu Dhabi guys were sensitive that Malaysia came first in the name before Abu Dhabi did. So I said, ‘ikut suka dia orang lah (it’s up to them)’.”

Shahrol added that he had never heard of Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp.

According to Shahrol’s 270-page witness statement, Admic was Jho Low’s brainchild and meant to be a special purpose vehicle for a fundraising project called “Project Catalyze” which was to raise US$6 billion for the development of TRX.

For the TRX JV, Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) was to guarantee Aabar BVI’s US$3 billion investment, while Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance guaranteed 1MDB’s investment by way of a letter of support. A loan of US$3 billion was raised by 1MDB for this purpose with Goldman Sachs taking the role of lead arranger.

On March 14, 2013, Najib signed a letter of support for 1MDB’s US$3 billion bond issue. Five days later, a sum of US$2.721 billion was disbursed into the account of 1MDB Global Investment Ltd at BSI Bank at Lugano, Switzerland.

After a series of transactions, US$681 million from the funds allegedly ended up in Najib’s personal bank account.

The JV never got off the ground and Shahrol agreed — in hindsight — that it was all a sham. He testified that he had no personal knowledge of what happened to the US$3 billion that was channelled into Admic as he had left his position as 1MDB CEO on March 16, 2013.

But he confirmed that Aabar BVI never injected its promised share of the US$3 billion investment into the TRX JV. Admic, the JV company, was disbanded in 2014.

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