Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 9, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, a former chief executive officer (CEO) of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), told the court yesterday that there were no lawyers on the board of directors of Terengganu Investment Authority Bhd (TIA) after the resignation of lawyer Christopher Lee Sian Teik of Christopher Lee & Co.

He said Lee and former TIA chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh were appointed as the first directors on the board of TIA in 2009, but it was not clear if they were picked by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.

Replying to defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Shahrol pointed out that both Lee and Mohd Bakke were already members of the steering committee of TIA, and members of the committee would eventually become board members. He added that Tan Sri Ismee Ismail was also a member of the steering committee and became a director later.

Asked if Jho Low and Lee shared a close relationship, the witness said they seemed like “they knew each other” from his own limited observation.

Lee resigned from the board on March 21, 2009, the same day that Shahrol was appointed as the CEO of TIA. Muhammad Shafee asked the witness why Lee had resigned, to which Shahrol said Lee was only needed during the setting up of TIA.

“In other words, he was a promoter director,” said Muhammad Shafee.

“Yes, that is correct,” said Shahrol, adding that he did not know if Lee was asked to resign.

“Did TIA have any lawyers on its board after that?” asked the lawyer.

“No, it was mainly account and finance people,” replied the witness.

“That was a mistake — not having a lawyer on the board,” said Muhammad Shafee.

“Yes, I will remember that if I set up another company,” said Shahrol, eliciting giggles in the courtroom.

Earlier, Muhammad Shafee brought up the fact that Jho Low was never paid for his services at TIA and 1MDB, to which Shahrol confirmed.

Muhammad Shafee suggested that Jho Low did “pro bono work for TIA and took billions instead”, a situation he found peculiar. “Why would this shrewd businessman spend a lot of time yet he was not paid anything?” he asked.

Shahrol denied this, saying: “It wasn’t pro bono because he (Jho Low) stated that he was representing in the early days the interest of Terengganu and in the later days the federal government.”

“But he wasn’t paid,” said Muhammad Shafee.

“No, he wasn’t paid,” said Shahrol.

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