This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 30, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) former chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi confirmed yesterday he was the person referred to as “1MDB Officer 2” in 1MDB-linked lawsuits filed by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2016.
He added that former 1MDB executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee was “1MDB Officer 1” in the DoJ’s report.
Shahrol said this during cross-examination by former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, before High Court Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Shahrol said he had only “scanned through” the DoJ report when it was released, as he was “turned off” by the DoJ accusing him of knowingly being complicit in the US$700 million diversion from 1MDB to Good Star Ltd, owned by Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).
Shahrol claimed the DoJ did not have complete information about the transaction, and that no one from the DoJ approached him to seek clarification on the matter.
“Nobody from [the] DoJ came to ask me what happened,” he said.
According to the DoJ report, 1MDB Officer 2 had misled banks and the 1MDB board of directors into believing Good Star was owned by PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI), and not Jho Low.
In July 2016, the DoJ filed lawsuits seeking to seize dozens of properties tied to 1MDB, claiming over US$3.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB.
The lawsuits sought to seize assets “involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1MDB”, according to the DoJ.
Shahrol admitted that until now, he was unsure about the extent Jho Low and Tang had lied to him during the 1MDB-PSI joint-venture arrangement.
Muhammad Shafee implied Jho Low was a “total liar” and that his credibility should have been in question, to which Shahrol agreed.
Muhammad Shafee: “If given the chance to be [1MDB] CEO again, would you have checked on them?”
Shahrol: “I would have resigned on the spot. I still believe 1MDB is a strategic vehicle for Datuk Seri Najib and I want to serve him well.”