KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) was a “puppet master” who made decisions and controlled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) when it came to strategy and operations, the High Court was told on Monday.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior investigating officer Nur Aida Arifin — who was testifying as the prosecution’s 49th witness at the 1MDB-Tanore trial here — agreed with suggestions from lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that Jho Low had pulled the strings in 1MDB despite being a nobody in the company.
Shafee: In your witness statement you said Jho Low was the pencatur, what do you mean? Do you mean he was acting as the puppet master in 1MDB?
Nur Aida: Yes, I agree. Jho Low was the ‘puppet master’ in how 1MDB conducted its business operations.
Nur Aida: Yes.
Shafee: I put it to you he was in control?
Nur Aida: Yes.
The witness also agreed that Jho Low was in total control.
This is not the first time a suggestion has been made that Jho Low was the “puppet master” in this trial, where former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is the only accused.
In 2019, while he was on the witness stand, Najib’s former special officer Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin had also agreed with a suggestion that Jho Low behaved like a “puppet master” who controlled those around him to do his bidding, no matter their rank or where they were from.
Back then, Shafee was making references to a paragraph in Amhari’s witness statement which described Jho Low as a “master manipulator”, which the defence counsel asked the witness to explain during his cross-examination.
Testifying before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, Nur Aida disagreed with Shafee’s suggestion that former 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi was in the habit of taking unofficial orders from Jho Low, as they had a previous working relationship prior to 1MDB.
Shafee explained that Shahrol had worked at Accenture Malaysia, where Low's company, Utama Banking Group (UBG), was once its client.
Nur Aida said that she did not agree that Shahrol was directly taking orders from Jho Low, and she reiterated that Shahrol had told her during investigations that Jho Low’s orders were as good as Najib’s orders.
Shafee then told Nur Aida that Shahrol himself had said in court that all his actions were based on orders from Jho Low.
“I agree, because Low's orders are Najib's orders. [But] it is not a habit that Shahrol was taking orders from Jho Low,” she said.
Shahrol had previously testified that he had taken instructions from Jho Low in 1MDB only because they came with instructions and letters signed by Najib.
Nur Aida agrees with Shafee that Petronas gives absolute power to PM as compared to 1MDB
Nur Aida also agreed when Shafee made the comparison that Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) had given “absolute power” to a sitting prime minister over its affairs as compared to 1MDB.
Shafee was asking Nur Aida about the differences between the 1MDB memorandum and articles of association (M&A) and Petronas’, both of which are government-linked entities.
Shafee cited the example of Petronas’ M&A, which he claimed was also very controversial as it granted the PM even more powers over the company than 1MDB’s did.
According to Article 109 of Petronas' M&A, the "chairman of the board shall be appointed by the prime minister and shall at all times hold a proxy with respect to all shares held by the government and such proxy shall be exercised [at the direction] of the prime minister.”
Shafee suggested to Nur Aida that 1MDB’s M&A, particularly Article 117, which deals with the issue of the prime minister’s power in 1MDB, was less powerful than Petronas’.
He explained that under Article 117, although certain events may not take place without the written approval of the prime minister, the decision still lies with the board of directors.
Shafee: You agree that the M&A of Petronas allows the PM to interfere on any matter? This is the absolute power of the PM in any area of Petronas — the PM can overrule anything. You agree [that] he can?
Nur Aida: I agree.
Shafee: You’re happy that I have shown you that other government-linked companies give the prime minister more power?
Nur Aida: I agree.
Under Article 117 in 1MDB's M&A, certain decisions such as any change to the M&A, the hiring and firing of senior management and directors, and any financial commitment by the state-owned fund, may not be made without prior written approval of the prime minister.
On Sept 2, 2009, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) Inc, as the ultimate shareholder, moved a resolution to include Article 117 in the Terengganu Investment Authority’s (TIA) Articles of Association. Prior to TIA becoming 1MDB under MOF Inc and the federal government, TIA had been run under the auspices of the Terengganu royal family, and TIA’s M&A had contained only 116 articles.
On Sept 2, although it was still called TIA, the company had already come under the purview of MOF Inc, and Article 117 was inserted. A mere two days later, on Sept 4, 2009, TIA changed its name to 1MDB.
Under Article 117, Najib alone — as the then prime minister and finance minister — was given the final say in all of the company’s investment decisions.
Najib, 70, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money-laundering involving the same amount.
Hearing before presiding judge Sequerah continues.