PUTRAJAYA (Feb 18): Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer Fikri Ab Rahim denied that his fast-tracked promotion within the agency was due to his investigation into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, whose findings were purportedly favourable to the then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Taking the stand as the eighth defence witness in the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore trial, Fikri also denied that the anti-graft agency's trip to Saudi Arabia in November 2015 was to carry out a pre-meditated plan to serve Najib.

"My promotion was determined by MACC and [then agency chief] Tan Sri Abu Kassim [Mohamed]," said the 50-year-old government servant.

Fikri was part of the MACC team that went to Saudi Arabia in 2015 to investigate Najib's claim that the RM2.27 billion in his account from 2011 to 2014 were donations from the country's then-monarch, the late King Abdullah.

The team was to interview the members of the Saudi royal family to verify Najib's claim, with a focus on former governor of Madinah Province Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Majed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Prince Saud). Prince Saud had issued the four donation letters, which is Najib's main proof that the monies were donations.

Fikri said that his promotion was accelerated from Grade 41 to Grade 54 even before the Saudi trip. In the Public Services Department schemes of service, officers are placed in the Management and Professional level, which ranges from Grade 41 being the lowest to Grade 56 being the highest.

Fikri was later promoted to Gaji Jawatan Utama Sektor Awam (JUSA) Grade C in 2017. JUSA is a premier grade or supergrade in the civil service.

"I was at Grade 54 when I went to Saudi. I was [only] promoted to Jusa C in 2017. The investigations [into 1MDB] were still ongoing. I don't see Najib [playing] any role in my promotion," he said.

He was replying to deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib's suggestion that Fikri was part of the team that coordinated the "pre-planned" statements and was promoted for his contribution.

Prince Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Prince Faisal) and Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Prince Turki) were also purported royals who had allegedly transferred monies to Najib's account.

Previously, Fikri had testified that he went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between Nov 27 and 29 in 2015, together with the then-director of the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team at the Attorney General’s Chambers Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad, then-MACC deputy chief commissioner Datuk Azam Baki, and MACC officers Mohd Hafaz Nazar and Mohd Nasharudin Amir, to conduct the interviews.

Fikri said that during that visit, he had seen the three princes — Saud, Faisal and Turki — from a distance when he entered the Riyadh palace grounds with the Malaysian delegation. To his surprise, businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low)'s close associate Eric Tan was also present. The MACC then recorded Prince Saud’s statement from his agent and lawyer, Abdullah Al Koman, due to the prince's alleged immunity.

The officer testified that statements were taken from both Al Koman and Tan for about 20-25 minutes each. The prosecution questioned the brevity of this process, asserting that there were already pre-meditated prepared statements which assisted Najib and that the agency merely "copy pasted" the statements. Fikri denied this.

After Fikri was released from the stand, Najib’s lawyers called a ninth witness, former AmBank compliance officer Nazaruddin Md Kasim, who among others testified on the process of lodging a Suspicious Transaction Report.

It is worth noting that Nazaruddin was in AmBank from 2015 to 2024, after the monies were transferred into Najib's accounts.

The prosecution had no questions for the witness, and he was released from the stand.

In this trial, Najib is accused of four abuse of power and 21 money-laundering charges.

Presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah had ordered the ex-PM to enter his defence for all charges after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Najib.

The trial continues on Thursday (Feb 20).

Read also:
Prosecution alleges MACC’s trip to Riyadh for 1MDB probe was orchestrated as it involved a sitting PM
Prosecution says Najib's MACC witness 'improvising' testimony when claiming he saw three Saudi princes in Riyadh