Former 1MDB CEO: PMO, MOF, BN members asked me to protect Najib

Former 1MDB chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi said besides Jho Low, among the PMO officers who came up with the idea of protecting the former prime minister were Datuk Seri Ahmad Farid Ridzuan and Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazarudin.

Ahmad Farid was in charge of Najib’s image at that time and Amhari was Najib’s special officer.

This was revealed by the ninth prosecution witness during re-examination by lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram at Najib’s RM2.3 billion 1MDB graft trial.

Shahrol Azral said even civil servants from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) were conditioned to the “must protect the PM” idea.

“Most of them whom I have interacted with, including Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin who was the former PAC chairman at that time, were focused on the idea of protecting the (then) prime minister,” he said.

Further questioned by Sri Ram whether he was familiar with Najib’s public relations (PR) consultant, Paul Stadlen, the witness said “yes”.

“He was introduced to me by Jho Low. He was the boss' (referring to Najib) PR guy. He was managing PR and public perception. I met him in Putrajaya Marriott Hotel. Paul also was steadfast when I had a brief discussion with him on protecting the PM,” said Shahrol Azral.

To another question by the former Federal Court judge on what they were protecting Najib from, Shahrol Azral said it was reputational damage as the newspaper, Wall Street Journal, was coming in thick and fast on trailing 1MDB issues.

It was reported before that prior to the PAC hearing in 2015, a meeting with the objective to protect the PM was held in Farid's house in Sri Hartamas and among the attendees was BN member Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Sri Ram: Was your evidence to PAC in any way influenced by this idea to protect the PM?

Shahrol Azral: Of course. The fact that any mention of Jho Low’s name (in the report) was removed and the responsibility for all the decisions were put on my shoulders.

Sri Ram: So you would take the blame?

Shahrol Azral: Yes.

Sri Ram: Americans would say the fall guy?

Shahrol Azral: Yes. Or the Malays have a saying “kambing hitam”.

Shahrol Azral also testified that he did not benefit from the monies from the alleged conspiracy to siphon billions of ringgit from the sovereign wealth fund.

He, however, said in hindsight, based on the documents that were shown to him in court and during the investigation, Najib, was among the beneficiaries alongside Jho Low, 1MDB executive director Casey Tang, 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo, co-founder of PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) Tarek Obaid and many of Jho Low’s other accomplices.

Earlier, during cross-examination, Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah contended that Shahrol Azral could have been charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code for committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) during his tenure as managing director and CEO of 1MDB.

Shahrol Azral, however, disagreed.

Muhammad Shafee said due to this crime he purportedly committed, the witness was not allowed to travel and had an immigration black mark to his name as he was regarded by the investigating agency as a dominant accomplice of Jho Low.

Shahrol Azral: Correction, my passport was never taken and I did not formally apply for the black mark to be removed but I just found out one day the black mark was lifted.

Muhammad Shafee: 1MDB never sued you either when it could have easily sued you (for negligence); in fact, many members of the board of directors (BOD) could be charged...but certainly you have failed as a member of the BOD.

Shahrol Azral: I disagree.

Najib, 67, faces 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.

The trial before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Monday.