Najib attended meeting, 1MDB joint venture with PSI right - Witness

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told today that the presence of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the meeting with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Board of Directors (BOD) members and representatives from Petrosaudi International (PSI) in London, the United Kingdom in May 2011 showed that the 1MDB-PSI joint venture was right.

Former 1MDB non-executive director Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, 57, said the meeting was held in a suite that Najib stayed in at the Dorchester Hotel in London during a visit by the 1MDB BOD to the PSI office in May 2011.

"During the visit, we (members of the board of directors) were taken to the PSI office and we had lunch together. Subsequently, we attending a meeting with Datuk Seri Najib and two former PSI directors, Patrick Mahoney and Tarek Obaid, in the suite.

"As I recall, I also saw fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low in the suite," he said, adding that Jho Low did not join in the meeting.

The 13th prosecution witness said this when reading his witness statement in the corruption and money laundering trial involving RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds faced by the former prime minister.

Earlier, Ismee said the visit to the PSI office in London was arranged by the 1MDB management at the request of 1MDB chairman Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamarudin because 1MDB had no information on PSI and wanted to meet the company's representative face to face.

"The meeting was held when Datuk Seri Najib was in London but I am not sure why it had to be held when he (Najib) was there.

"The presence of Datuk Seri Najib at the Dorchester Hotel showed that the joint venture between 1MDB and PSI was right. The Board of Directors were also satisfied when they saw the PSI office and felt that the company was a legitimate one," he said.

However, Ismee said no specific agendas were discussed and the meeting was generally about the investments between PSI and 1MDB.

Earlier, the court was told that on Sept 28, 2009, 1MDB had signed a joint venture with PSI, with 1MDB having to pay US$1 billion for its 40 per cent shareholding in the company while PetroSaudi Holdings Cayman (a company said to be the subsidiary of PSI) only pumped in assets worth US$108 million for 60 per cent of the equity.

Meanwhile, Ismee said he and former 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi agreed to sign a resolution to discontinue the issuance of the RM5 billion Islamic Medium Term Notes (IMTN) on May 22, 2009 because the Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin wanted it to be discontinued.

"After we signed the resolution, we met Datuk Seri Najib at his residence in Jalan Langgat Duta to explain what had transpired during our meeting with Sultan Mizan at Istana Terengganu.

"After listening to our explanation, Datuk Seri Najib's first response at that time was 'why did you sign it' and 'why we (Ismee and Shahrol Azral) did not did not seek an extension from His Highness to give us time to think'.

"I could only tell Datuk Seri Najib that it was a directive from His Highness, so there was nothing we could do. I could see from Datuk Seri Najib's reaction and the tone of his voice that he wanted the issuance of the bonds to proceed," he said.

Najib, 68, is facing four charges, namely using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial before Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA