This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 9, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: “There is a possibility” that Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi was recommended by Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) to helm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) despite his lack of experience in finance as part of the plan by the fugitive businessman to conduct the alleged misappropriation of funds, the High Court was told yesterday.

Shahrol testified that he had told Jho Low of his lack of experience in fundraising prior to his appointment as the chief executive officer (CEO) of 1MDB — then Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) — on March 23, 2009.

Shahrol said he told this to Jho Low instead of then TIA board member Tan Sri Azlan Zainol, whom he was closer to personally because “Jho Low was my only interface [with TIA] at the time”.

Previously, Shahrol testified that he received the invitation to join TIA from Jho Low, and that he subsequently gave his CV to Azlan. “I thought it was for [the position of] COO (chief operating officer),” Shahrol had said.

Yesterday, Shahrol was questioned by defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah as to why he was appointed as the CEO of TIA, which at the time had not finalised its proposed RM11 billion fundraising mechanism, despite his lack of experience in financing.

1MDB had proposed to raise RM5 billion via bonds, and RM6 billion from either outstanding Terengganu oil royalties from the federal government or from borrowings.

Shahrol said: “I promised to do my best. My best was in organisational building and delivering projects. I clearly stated [to Jho Low] I had no experience in fundraising. I did not push for the job.

“If I was not qualified, the people who appointed me (1MDB’s board of directors, the Terengganu state government and the federal government) should have known that.”

Prior to this, there was a back-and-forth exchange between Shahrol and Muhammad Shafee on the responsibilities of a CEO. Shahrol said that as a CEO, he knew “someone would have to help in the fundraising aspect”.

“The CEO’s role is not to look at everything ... the CEO’s role is to build a team that is better than he is in doing all this,” he said.

Muhammad Shafee: Now that you have taken some time to explain to us that you had no experience in financial matters, do you think the reason Jho Low approached you was because you had no financial experience, he could take you by the ear (lead you on)?

Shahrol: At that time, I did not think so.

Muhammad Shafee: At that time. Now, in hindsight?

Shahrol: There is a possibility.

Shahrol, who was the CEO of 1MDB from 2009 to 2013, was brought in from consulting firm Accenture, where he was a senior manager cum partner. He was an alumnus from Stanford University in California.