KUALA LUMPUR (April 4): Fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low)'s penchant for name-dropping was so rife that even close associate Jasmine Loo was not able to identify the veracity of his statements, the court heard on Thursday.
The former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) general counsel said that unless she was present in person, she would not be able to tell if Jho Low's statements were true.
Loo, 50, said this in reply to defence counsel Tania Scivetti's cross-examination on Thursday during the 1MDB-Tanore trial where former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is facing abuse of power and money-laundering charges.
Scivetti: [You are aware of] Jho Low's tendency to make up stories and name-drop.
Loo: I don't know about [his tendencies] of making up stories but name-dropping, yes.
Scivetti: You agree that the name-dropping [doesn't] bear any truth?
Loo: He is fond of name-dropping but I don't know the strength of it.
Scivetti: In fact, you yourself won't know if he was telling the truth.
Loo: Unless I was there [to verify].
Previous witnesses like former central bank governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu had also testified about Jho Low's tendency to "name-drop", alluding to his close interpersonal relationship with powerful individuals around the globe.
Loo doesn't deny that she is Jho Low's close associate
Scivetti went back to Loo's previous testimony where the witness claimed that at the material time she was unaware that 1MDB funds were funnelled to Najib's account. She had said that she only knew of this following the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and subsequent media reports around 2015 and 2016.
Previously on the stand, Loo had testified that she was unaware that the security deposits amounting to RM576,943,490 and RM790,354,855 from the fake Aabar's account entered Eric Tan Kim Loong's Blackstone Asia Real Estate account. The funds were then deposited into an array of other accounts, including Najib's.
On Thursday, when asked if Loo had ever seen Najib with Tan, who frequently acted as Jho Low's proxy, the witness answered in the negative.
Scivetti: You've known Eric Tan since 2009?
Loo: Correct.
Scivetti: The DOJ and the media have identified you as one of the key players in the 1MDB scheme.
Loo: Ya, but that is unverified, and that is what they claim.
Scivetti: The media has also identified you as Jho Low's close associate.
Loo: Yes, I don't deny that.
Loo, once again, reiterated that whatever money she received from entities linked to Jho Low, she received in "good faith" and didn't know that they were funnelled from the strategic development company.
Scivetti: Are you saying that the allegations in the DOJ report were unfounded?
Loo: Yes.
Scivetti: You are also saying that what the media is saying about you is also not correct?
Loo: Not all correct.
Loo repeated that it was always her desire to return to Malaysia. The defence counsel then "puts" it again to the witness that the timing of her return was suspect.
Scivetti: The only reason you returned is that it was the right time to secure a deal with the authorities.
Loo: Not true.
Scivetti said Najib is alleged to be the mastermind of the 1MDB scam but was not involved in opening any of the various offshore accounts linked to 1MDB.
Loo said she can't comment on that. The defence counsel then said Najib only had an account in Malaysia and believed that the monies he received were donations. To this, Loo again said she has no comment.
Loo reiterates 'No deal made with prosecution'
Earlier, Loo disagreed that charges against her in Malaysia were not followed through as she had agreed to give evidence against Najib in the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore trial.
Scivetti: The charges preferred against ... you have not been pursued because you have agreed to give evidence against Najib in favour of the prosecution.
Loo: I disagree.
Loo was charged in absentia in December 2018 when she was accused of laundering US$5 million and US$999,975, being proceeds of unlawful activity received into the account of River Dee International SA (BVI) in Falcon Private Bank AG in Zurich.
The offence was framed under paragraph 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (Act 613), punishable under subsection 4(1) of the same Act.
Loo had left the country around April 2018 before the 14th general election, which saw the fall of the Najib-lead Barisan Nasional government. She returned to the country last July and has been assisting the authorities with 1MDB asset recovery.
Last month, Loo testified that she was still unaware of the details of the charges and had left it to her local lawyers to tend to them. On her part, she said that she focused on the authority's ongoing investigations.
When asked if she had appeared in court for the matter or if she was aware of the progress of the case, she said that she was prepared to defend the charges.
On the stand on Thursday, Loo said that previously she had not been called to respond to the charges but has since responded to them. However, since her return to KL, she has responded to various authorities regarding the charges, including the Securities Commission Malaysia.
Scivetti: Officially, [the charges] have been withdrawn?
Loo: I'm not saying that.
Judge reminds defence that Loo is not on trial
As he has done several times previously, presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah reminded the defence that Loo is not the one on trial.
"This case is not about her negligence as a lawyer or legal adviser, it's about the charges, so can we focus on that," he said in response to Scivetti's line of questioning regarding the Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd acquisition.
The defence lawyer was asking Loo about the US$577 million "security (non-refundable) deposit" Aabar's holding company International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) issued to guarantee the murabaha notes. The money went to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (BVI) — the fake Aabar.
Scivetti pushed back saying that this was an important point as it is part of the prosecution's case that the additional funds from this particular series of transactions was a criminal scheme to misuse 1MDB funds.
Loo also disagreed with the defence counsel that she colluded with Jho Low, former 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and others to remit money into the fake Aabar.
The trial will continue at 8.30am on Friday.
The judge wants the witness to be released from the stand on Friday, which means the defence would have to wrap up its cross-examination and the prosecution would also have to complete its re-examination of Loo.
In this trial, Najib is facing four counts of abuse of power for using his position as then prime minister, finance minister and chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers to receive gratifications worth RM2.27 billion. He is also facing 21 money-laundering charges.
The Edge is covering the trial live here.
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