Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 5, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: When 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) started drawing unwanted attention around 2013, fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) provided a set of answers to “frequently asked questions” (FAQ) for the group of people who handled 1MDB matters.

Jho Low, who was seen as the unofficial adviser to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, stated in the FAQ that he was not involved with 1MDB, although he was actually the mastermind behind the dealings, according to Najib’s former special officer Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin.

Amhari, 43, testified yesterday he was among the few individuals, aside from Najib and his late chief private secretary Datuk Azlin Alias, who received documents related to the financial woes in debt-laden 1MDB. The alleged theft in the fund was exposed by The Sarawak Report and The Edge beginning in 2015. The Edge was eventually suspended by the government from July to September that year over its reports.

 

The following are the documents kept by the witness despite Jho Low’s instructions to destroy them after each of their secret meetings:

i)     A document to address concerns in 1MDB including its balance sheet in 2014-2015;

ii)     An update on the proposed 1MDB-Aabar US$6 billion loan and its repayment procedure in February 2013;

iii)     A memorandum (memo) to brief the Prime Minister’s Office on 1MDB in 2015-2016;

iv)     A memo on 1MDB’s rationalisation plan in 2015 comprising a change of board members, International Petroleum Investment Co PJSC (IPIC), PetroSaudi and Aabar Investments, as well as government guarantees for the fund’s loans.

v)     An FAQ on 1MDB, including how much of its borrowings were guaranteed by the government, the difference between letter of support and letter of guarantee, status of investment managed by Brazen Sky Ltd, why 1MDB had not repaid the RM2 billion loan to Maybank, and 1MDB’s initial public offer (IPO).

vi)     1MDB rationalisation plan by Jho Low in 2014-2015 to sell all of its assets and liability and close it down. For instance, he planned to sell Bandar Malaysia to Sg Besi Development Sdn Bhd, a proposed special-purpose vehicle.

vii) A note in 2014-2015 went on to explain:

  •      Updated debt figures, and if 1MDB could repay its borrowings;
  •      why 1MDB loans were denominated in US dollars;
  •      why keep funds in the Cayman Islands;
  •      who is Jho Low, his role in 1MDB (Jho Low wanted to assert that he has no role in 1MDB, despite him being the main schemer of 1MDB matters), and;
  •      how 1MDB can help Malaysia.

viii) A document from Jho Low outlining his rationalisation plan for 1MDB, which Amhari received three weeks after Azlin’s death in April 2015.

    However, Jho Low’s rationalisation plans contradicted those by then 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

    At the time, Jho Low wanted to convince Najib to follow his recommendations, and Amhari was to act as a mediator between Arul Kanda and Jho Low.

ix)     A summary of 1MDB’s energy IPO, the role of CIMB Investment Bank in the IPO, plans to repay RM2 billion owed to Maybank, RHB’s RM5.5 billion bridging loan, and Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd’s compliance over the RM2 billion Contingent Equity Obligation.

 

Jho Low stressed that Amhari and Azlin must work closely with the investigative bodies and authorities to project a positive image of 1MDB.

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