This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 28, 2019 - December 4, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The attendance of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, in a 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) board meeting on Sept 26, 2009 came into question when then auditor-general (AG) found contradicting meeting minutes from the strategic investment fund.

Former AG Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said there were two versions of meeting minutes in relation to the board meeting on Sept 26, 2009 — one recorded Low’s attendance, while the other did not.

The said board meeting was held when 1MDB approved the investment into a joint venture with PetroSaudi International Ltd.

Ambrin said the meeting minutes which the National Audit Department (NAD) obtained from 1MDB’s premises initially contained Low’s attendance.

“The NAD thought the attendance by Jho Low, who [did] not have any position or role in 1MDB’s meeting at that time, was something not right,” he said yesterday.

However, Ambrin said 1MDB did not allow the AG to make copies of the document at that time.

“To verify this, I invited all 1MDB board of directors at the time, including Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh, to the NAD’s office for an interview,” he said, adding that Bakke had verified that Jho Low attended the board meeting on Sept 26, 2009. Ambrin also said Mohd Bakke brought along a copy of the meeting minutes that contained Jho Low’s name during that interview with the NAD.

“But the NAD decided that it (Mohd Bakke’s copy) [could not] be used for audit purposes, because the document was obtained from third parties,” he said.

To further verify Jho Low’s attendance, Ambrin said he subsequently met with Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, who succeeded Bakke as 1MDB chairman, and the fund’s chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy, to demand for those meeting minutes for audit purposes.

“After a few requests for these minutes, 1MDB only provided certified minutes. However, the minutes did not contain the name ‘Low Taek Jho’ on the list of meeting attendance. The NAD has informed 1MDB’s company secretary about this and they stated that this copy [which does not contain Jho Low’s name] is the correct one,” he said.

Ambrin said Tan Sri Shukry Mohd Salleh, a private secretary to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had demanded that paragraphs that mentioned Jho Low’s attendance in the 1MDB board meeting be excluded to avoid the issue from being spun by the opposition. Ambrin said Jho Low’s attendance in the 1MDB board meeting may have influenced the board’s decision.

“Nevertheless, I had agreed that this issue to be dropped from the audit report because the NAD audit team was not able to verify through documentary evidence whether [Jho] Low actually attended the 1MDB board meeting or not, because there were two meeting minutes that were different in terms of attendance,” he added.