This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 21, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR: Former chief secretary to the government, Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, told the High Court yesterday that following the Feb 24, 2016 coordination meeting he chaired, it was agreed that all copies of the original 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit report that was initially prepared by the National Audit Department (NAD) would be shredded.
Replying to questions from senior Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, Ali said the the top government officials who attended the meeting ordered the documents to be destroyed to avoid causing confusion.
“At the end, we agreed there should not be two or three [different] versions of the 1MDB audit report. Whatever final version that existed, that should stand,” the fourth prosecution witness said when replying to questions from Sri Ram.
A recording of the over two-hour meeting was played in court yesterday.
According to Ali, those present at the meeting were former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang and former government sector audit director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad, who represented the NAD; former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad; former ministry of finance’s (MoF) deputy secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Isa Hussain and Asri Hamdin representing the MoF; ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s former principal private secretary Tan Sri Shukry Mohd Salleh; and ex-chief executive officer of 1MDB Arul Kanda Kandasamy.
The witness had earlier testified that Najib had told him to convene the meeting when he and Ambrin had met the former premier two days earlier.
Najib and Arul Kanda are facing a charge in relation to tampering with the 1MDB original audit report.
Najib is accused of abusing his power by ordering amendments to the audit reports to protect himself from disciplinary, civil and criminal action prior to the submission to the Public Accounts Committee.
He is accused of committing the offence at the complex of the Prime Minister’s Department through a meeting held on Feb 24, 2016.
The charge, under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, provides for up to 20 years’ jail and a fine of not less than five times the amount of gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Arul Kanda is charged with abetting Najib to order the report’s amendment, at the same place and time. The charge, under Section 28(1)(c) of the MACC Act, read together with Section 23(1) & 24(1) of the act, provides for a similar sentence, if found guilty.
When queried about why he had uttered “national interests” in the recording, he said it was because the meeting was held to ensure the well-being of the country and safeguard its reputation.
In the recorded audio, Ali was heard talking about the need to safeguard the country’s national interests and Najib’s good name. So the former chief secretary said the reports had to be amended to ensure there were no political, economic and policy impacts on the prime minister and the country.
Testifying further, he agreed that there were some arguments when he attended the Feb 24, 2016 meeting.
“We have to make sure everything is the truth,” he said as Sri Ram finished the prosecution’s examination-in-chief. Najib’s defence team, led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, and Datuk N Sivananthan, who represented Arul Kanda, said they needed time to properly transcribe the Feb 24, 2016 meeting’s recording and hence they would like to postpone cross-examining the former chief secretary to the government.
Sivananthan said he would hand over what his team had transcribed to the prosecution on Friday, as Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan wanted the parties to agree on the transcript by Monday.
Muhammad Shafee said his team is also transcribing the recording and agreed with Sri Ram that the transcript was poorly done.