PUTRAJAYA (Oct 27): Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi played two roles — one as the CEO of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and another as a key enabler in Low Taek Jho’s (Jho Low) elaborate scheme to siphon billions from the sovereign fund, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence team told the High Court on Monday.

Najib’s lawyer, Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin, in presenting the closing submissions during the 1MDB-Tanore trial, said it was “amazing” how Shahrol could switch effortlessly between two “masks”: one as a director supposedly unaware of the misdeeds around him, and the other as the very person enabling Jho Low’s manipulation of 1MDB.

“It is imperative to note that when Shahrol was cross-examined by the defence, several significant admissions surfaced,” Wan Azwan said.

“He admitted he was informed in advance by Jho Low that a proposal letter would come from Aabar. Yet, he never took the initiative to verify who Tam Cheok Wing was, delegating that task to unnamed individuals in either the real estate or investment teams.”

The “Aabar proposal letter” refers to a key document that surfaced during the trial. It was in relation to a joint venture between 1MDB and Aabar Investments PJS, a company linked to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

In 2012, Shahrol, as CEO of 1MDB, entered into several deals with Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (Aabar BVI) — a company that appeared to be related to IPIC’s real Aabar entity, but was in fact a fraudulent clone set up in the British Virgin Islands by Jho Low and his associates. This fake Aabar BVI was used as a front to divert billions of dollars meant for legitimate investments into offshore accounts controlled by Jho Low’s network.

Tam, as mentioned by Wan Azman, is a Hong Kong-based associate of Jho Low. Shahrol had previously admitted that he never verified who Tam was, nor did he independently confirm the authenticity of the proposal with officials at the genuine Aabar or IPIC.

Wan Azwan noted that Shahrol had further conceded that he never had any direct contact with Aabar CEO Mohammed Badawy Al-Husseiny, and had instead left it entirely to Jho Low — whom he described as a friend — to coordinate the deals with Aabar.

“He even said he wasn’t concerned if the letter was drafted by Jho Low, claiming that ‘it didn’t really matter to me, if it was’,” the lawyer presented before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Based on these admissions, Wan Azwan said it would be “delusional” to believe Shahrol was an innocent party misled by Jho Low.

“Between his unauthorised transfers of billions to Jho Low, his secret correspondence with him and his defiance of 1MDB board’s instructions, there are countless reasons to doubt anything that comes out of his mouth,” he argued.

Najib's defence has accused Shahrol of having benefitted from 1MDB, even if not as directly as Jho Low had.

Counsel Datuk Tania Scivetti claimed Shahrol had been a “willing participant” and a beneficiary of Jho Low’s 1MDB scheme, something her client was not aware of.

While she admitted that the defence had no idea if Shahrol received any money or other valuables from Jho Low, she argued that such items "could have been stashed in safety deposit boxes and placed under other names".

Her submission was in response to Sequerah's directive to the defence last week to explain how Shahrol might have benefitted from following Jho Low’s instructions.

She further submitted that Low and Shahrol already had a professional relationship prior to 1MDB, as Shahrol had testified that Jho Low was his client when he was at Accenture, a major management and technology consulting firm. She also highlighted that Jho Low had recommended Shahrol for the CEO position at Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which was later renamed 1MDB.

Because of this job recommendation, Shahrol had benefitted by taking home RM99,000 monthly, or an annual salary of RM1.2 million, along with perks, a driver, directors’ meeting allowances and bonuses as 1MDB CEO, Scivetti argued.

Part of that was a one-off 18-month salary as bonus for 2012, which came to a whopping RM1.4 million. Shahrol also received a RM160,000 signing bonus when he took the job, Scivetti said, adding his position at 1MDB also elevated his professional standing.

Monday's hearing is the fifth day of closing submissions by the defence before Sequerah, who will decide Najib’s fate in the 1MDB trial involving RM2.3 billion in alleged misappropriated funds.

The hearing will continue on Tuesday, while the prosecution is scheduled to give its closing submissions on Wednesday.

Najib, 72, is facing four charges of allegedly using his position to obtain RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds as gratification between February 2011 and December 2014. He is also facing 21 counts of money laundering charges. If convicted, Najib could face up to 20 years in jail and hefty fines.

He is currently imprisoned in Kajang for a separate conviction involving RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd, for which he was convicted to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million.

However, this sentence has been commuted by the Pardons Board to six years in jail and a RM50 million fine. He has about two years and 10 months left to his jail term, which he started in August 2022.