PUTRAJAYA, Feb 26 — Did Low Taek Jho actually stay on for the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) board of directors’ meeting on September 26, 2009, after passing his handphone—with then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the line—to then-1MDB chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh?
Today, 1MDB’s then-director Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin attempted to recall the details of the events surrounding that 1MDB board meeting, which took place over 15 years ago. At the meeting, the 1MDB directors were to decide whether the Finance Ministry-owned company should invest US$1 billion in a proposed joint venture deal with the purported Saudi Arabian firm PetroSaudi International.
Testifying as the 12th defence witness in Najib’s 1MDB trial, Lodin said Low did speak to 1MDB board members after Najib’s phone conversation with Bakke.
However, Lodin appeared unsure whether Low spoke to the board before or after the meeting officially began.
Najib’s lead defence lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, pointed out that there were two versions of the minutes of that 1MDB board meeting—one listing Low, better known as Jho Low, as present, while the other omitted his name.
Saying he wanted to determine whether this was a “storm in a teacup” or a “perfect storm in the sea,” Shafee asked whether Low stayed on for the meeting.
“I believe he did not stay back for the meeting,” Lodin replied.
When asked again if Low was at the board meeting, the 75-year-old Lodin remarked that he is not a “young man” and that he always uses the phrase “I believe” because he is old. He then reiterated that Low did not stay for the meeting.
However, when asked how he knew that Low was representing the Saudi royal family, Lodin said Low had stated this “at the meeting.”
“He attended the meeting just very briefly,” Lodin said.
When Shafee asked again whether Low spoke after the meeting was called to order, Lodin said: “This is the part where
I cannot recall, whether Tan Sri Bakke called the meeting to order or not before he left. But from my recollection, I think after the phone call, he said what he wanted to say, he went off, and the meeting thereafter was started by Tan Sri Bakke.”
When asked whether Low made the phone call to Najib before or during the meeting, Lodin said it was before the meeting based on his “recollection,” adding that Low had passed the phone to Bakke, who then answered it and returned to the board.
Asked if Low was still present when Bakke returned from the phone conversation with Najib, Lodin said: “Again, from my recollection, he stayed just to say he was there to represent the Saudi royal family and to give their best wishes to the board. Then he left.”
Shafee then asked whether Lodin found it “unusual” that Low did not stay for the 1MDB board meeting to protect the interests of Saudi Arabia and its Prince Turki.
Lodin highlighted that Low was not a 1MDB board director.
“He’s not a member of the board; I certainly would object. In fact, I did intimate to the secretary about the presence of Jho Low because he was, as far as I know, not a board member,” Lodin said.
Lodin said Low could have been invited by 1MDB’s management to attend the meeting.
When asked by Shafee, Lodin said it had not occurred to him at the time, nor had he been given the impression then, that Low was Najib’s adviser.
Previously, Bakke testified that Najib had, in the phone call, expressed urgency and asked the 1MDB board to quickly finalise a decision on the US$1 billion deal. The 1MDB board then agreed to approve the deal on the same day, with four conditions.
Najib had previously denied that his phone conversation with Bakke was meant to pressure the 1MDB board into approving the deal. He also explained that he spoke via Low’s phone instead of calling Bakke directly because it was convenient.
Did Najib have dictator-like powers in 1MDB as PM?
Among other things, Lodin said 1MDB’s company constitution, specifically Article 117, did not give the prime minister “absolute power like a dictator in a company.”
“There are many aspects of operation of 1MDB which did not require the approval under this Article 117.
“So if the prime minister is considered a dictator by implementing Article 117, of course it would in many facets disrupt the operation of 1MDB, because every little matter that needs to be carried out must get approval under this Article 117, if it is interpreted as such,” Lodin said.
Among other things, Article 117 required the prime minister’s prior written approval for any financial commitments by 1MDB, including investments or matters relating to government guarantees, “national interests, national security, or government policies,” with the Malaysian government making the final decision on what constituted national interests, national security, and national policies.
Asked by Shafee whether the prime minister had ever personally made nearly every decision in 1MDB, Lodin said,
“No.”
Lodin also said he could not recall if Najib had ever invoked Article 117 of 1MDB’s company constitution.
Lodin was a member of 1MDB’s predecessor, the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) board, and later served on
1MDB’s board from August 11, 2009. He became 1MDB chairman on October 20, 2009, before resigning in May 2016.
Najib served as prime minister from April 2009 to May 2018.
Najib’s 1MDB trial before trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow morning.
