This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 9, 2019 - September 15, 2019

THROUGHOUT last week, a name that was constantly mentioned during the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) or Tanore trial involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak was that of his former principal private secretary, Datuk Azlin Alias.

Described as loyal and devoted to the former prime minister, Azlin had raised the matter of 1MDB in January or February of 2015, following a meeting he had attended on the fifth floor where Najib’s office was situated.

Returning to his office, a stressed-out Azlin vented his frustrations. “Duit 1MDB lah, bro! (It’s 1MDB money, brother),” he shouted and slammed the files he was holding on the table, according to Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, 43, who was waiting for his return.

Amhari, the eighth prosecution witness, testified at the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the volatile exclamation was unforgettable as it was uncharacteristic of mild-mannered Azlin. “I recall the incident because as I knew him, Datuk Azlin was a person who was always calm, polite and had never acted that way in front of me. He was not a person who liked to raise his voice unnecessarily.”

Towards the end of 2014 and early 2015, reports concerning 1MDB’s dealings and debt problems had begun to circulate.

Amhari — one of Najib’s aides and the person who succeeded Azlin as the director of economics in the Prime Minister’s Office upon the latter’s death in April 2015 — said he believes Azlin was referring to the transfer of US$680 million to Najib’s AmBank accounts from 2011 to 2015 from abroad.

Azlin’s exclamation did not just centre on news reports in 2015 that 1MDB’s funds had been channelled to Najib’s stepson, Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, for the purchase of luxury real estate in the US and to fund the Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street, among others.

Amhari said when Azlin was the director of economics in the PMO and the principal private secretary to Najib, all matters regarding 1MDB would be managed by him (Azlin). “I was only involved unofficially as I participated in some of the 1MDB discussions involving Azlin, Low Taek Jho and myself.”

As Azlin’s angry reaction came before the Sarawak Report and The Wall Street Journal exposés in July 2015 of 1MDB funds being channelled to Najib’s personal bank accounts, he obviously already had some indication of the shenanigans at 1MDB.

But how great was his knowledge?

In Amhari’s testimony, he said anything that Azlin did related to 1MDB would have been at the behest of Najib or Low.

Azlin’s role in opening Najib’s AmBank accounts

He referred to news reports that Azlin had assisted Najib to open two AmBank Islamic accounts on Jan 13, 2011.

“Azlin was said to have arranged the meeting between AmBank and Najib at the premier’s house in Jalan Langgak Duta,” said Amhari.

In Najib’s SRC International trial, former Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia CEO Ung Su Ling testified that Azlin had directed her to facilitate the transfer of RM27 million and RM5 million on Dec 26, 2014, and RM10 million on Feb 10, 2015, to Najib’s AmBank accounts.

Amhari said he was surprised as he was not aware of the opening of the accounts — or of any instructions given by Azlin to Ung — but he agreed that Azlin was loyal in following Najib’s orders as Najib was his boss and the prime minister (at the time).

“To my knowledge, Azlin had never refused Najib’s directives,” he said of Najib’s principal private secretary who if unsure of a directive, “would certainly refer back to Najib to ensure that there are no doubts”.

“Any private or informal meetings at Najib’s private residence needed Najib’s approval as it involved time, his schedule and access to that residence. It was impossible and illogical for Azlin to arrange AmBank’s meeting with Najib at the private residence on his own initiative without Najib’s go-ahead.”

However, Low had also directed Azlin and Amhari to open individual bank accounts in Singapore “as stand-by for GE13 (the 13th general election)”.

Both did as instructed, but Amhari said Azlin had advised him not to use any of the funds in his Singapore account.

Lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah then suggested that it was convenient for Amhari to bring Azlin up — to pin the blame on someone who is no longer here as “dead men tell no tales”.

Azlin died at the age of 47, in a helicopter crash in Semenyih in April 2015, that also killed former minister and ambassador Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis and four others, including the pilot and co-pilot. They were on a trip from Pekan after attending a wedding reception of Najib’s daughter.

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