KUALA LUMPUR – Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, a key witness in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.28 billion 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) ongoing corruption trial, is scheduled for cross-examination today (Friday) by the former prime minister’s defence team after giving her witness statement in the high court over two days earlier this week.
Before the grilling, Scoop takes a look at key takeaways in her statement that sketches an outline of the relationship Najib – who was former finance minister and who oversaw 1MDB – had with the scandal’s alleged mastermind, Penang-born fugitive Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.
Loo, the prosecution’s 50th witness, also explains how she carried out her tasks as 1MDB general counsel while being kept in the dark on the purpose of transactions and money flow, which Low repeatedly told her were all legal.
She said she only knew of alleged misappropriation from news reports on 1MDB in 2015/2016.
Loo is under police protection in Malaysia after her arrest following her return here in July last year from Bangkok where she had been hiding since 2018.
Jho Low a self-styled Najib proxy
In her witness statement, Loo detailed how decisions were made in a “top-down approach” at 1MDB, where she was general counsel from May 2011 to November 2013.
The state investment firm’s management would carry out projects after receiving approval from Najib, who was chairman of its advisory board.
The company’s memorandum and articles of association required Najib’s approval as prime minister for large and important projects that had strong financial implications for the government, besides the fact that Najib as finance minister was the sole 1MDB shareholder representing the Finance Ministry Incorporated.
Jho Low, however, would place himself as the go-between the management and Najib, “using his influence as someone close to the prime minister…a lot of his actions were to show us that he was a proxy to the prime minister”, Loo said.
“A lot of big decisions that needed the prime minister’s approval had to be discussed with Low first before being brought to Najib.
Loo also said Low’s instructions on 1MDB-related matters were in line with Najib’s wishes.
She said she came to believe this after Low asked her to prepare a document for Najib to sign, and when it was returned to her, the prime minister’s signature was on it.
She was also asked to prepare talking points for Low to update Najib on 1MDB’s ongoing projects.
She also often saw Low together with Najib, or around the former prime minister in the same place, or at the same 1MDB-related events.
Low also kept blank, yellow-coloured stationery that bore the letterhead of the Prime Minister’s Office for him to use when necessary.
Once, she saw Low use the stationery to prepare a letter at his home in Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur to be brought to Najib for his signature. The same letter with Najib’s signature was later sent to the 1MDB office and its content – the appointment of Hazem Rahman in 1MDB – was executed.
Loo also personally prepared documents related to 1MDB’s investments which were handed over to Low or an assigned person for Najib to sign.
Loo would print and place the documents in a plastic folder to be delivered by hand for Najib’s signature, and this included making such deliveries to the doorstep of Najib’s residence in Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur.
The Arab ‘donation’
The RM2 billion Najib is accused of laundering and abusing his power for has repeatedly been cast as a donation from Arabs by his defence team.
Loo, in her witness statement, told the court how Low arranged for the sum – which had been deposited into Najib’s account – to appear like a donation.
She said between 2013 to 2014, Low had told her of a private bank account at AmBank for Najib that had been opened to receive donations from Saudi Arabia.
In 2015, in London at the Mayfair Hotel’s business centre, she witnessed how Low ordered his associate, Kee Kok Thiam (now deceased) to prepare a confirmation letter from Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud, stating that the monies deposited was a donation from the kingdom.
Loo said Low’s instruction to prepare a donation letter was given after Datuk Shamsul (Anwar Sulaiman) from Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd, who was also present, asked Low for solutions to explain the large sum of money in Najib’s account.
“He (Shamsul) said various parties had started asking about the funds in Najib’s account which were said to be from 1MDB. Afterwards, Low ordered Kee to prepare a confirmation letter from Prince Saud, stating that the monies deposited was a donation from Saudi Arabia.
“I left the room for a while with Low to discuss other matters, when I returned to the business centre, I saw Kee preparing a draft of a donation letter from Prince Saud,” Loo said.
Loo also said the draft letter she saw was dated June 1, 2014, and bore no signatures. She was not sure of the amount of the “donation” nor was she sure when the letter was sent to Najib.
“Therefore, I believe the date on the letter was backdated,” she said.
Editor’s note: Kee, who was a suspect in the 1MDB scandal, died suddenly on May 29 last year, reportedly of a stroke according to his lawyers. He was said to be a close associate of Low’s, and had been questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission a few weeks before his death.
Funds for BN, but don’t worry
Loo said she only caught a whiff of scandal at 1MDB around 2015 or 2016 when Malaysian and international media reported on the matter, and from reports by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). She had left 1MDB in 2013 but continued to do ad-hoc work for the firm when asked.
“I asked Jho Low why it was necessary for so much money to be deposited into Najib’s account. Low only said it was for Barisan Nasional’s political funds, especially Umno.
“When I pressed further and asked Low about these transactions, he only told me not to worry, that he would take care of things and that I did not need to do anything.
“He also said that if anything happened to him, he had the evidence to show that what did was in accordance with Najib’s requests, wishes and with his knowledge,” Loo said in her witness statement.
Loo’s name misused, but again, told not to worry
Loo said she was shocked when she found out that her name was used as an authorised signatory in Tanore Finance Corp, which allegedly sent millions in funds to Najib’s bank account.
She only learnt about Tanore’s existence in 2016 from media reports and the DOJ. She then realised how she became an authorised signatory based on the event in October 2012, when she went to Falcon Bank in Zurich, Switzerland to open a private account.
Jho Low and Eric Tan Kim Loong were also with her to do the same.
In Zurich, she agreed to Tan’s request to hold power of attorney for his account in the event of his death and signed a blank document to this effect. The document was blank because Tan had not chosen any name for a company and said he would complete the document later after opening a private account and deciding on a name.
When problems with Tanore Finance Corp were later raised by the DoJ, she realised that the blank documents she signed while in Zurich had been misused by Falcon Bank, Tan and Low, Loo said.
She got angry with Low and scolded him, but he again told her not to worry.
He also told her that funds, issued through US$3 billion bonds were meant as political funds for the 13th general election. Low assured her all these transactions were legal.
Trail to Najib’s accounts
Loo’s witness statement also delves into the siphoning of 1MDB funds to a bogus company started by Low that used an almost similar name as the one meant to receive funds from a joint venture with 1MDB. This was one of the early scandals involving 1MDB reported by the media.
The legitimate company was Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investment PJS, whose parent company, International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), had entered into a joint-venture with 1MDB subsidiary, 1MDB Energy Limited.
The bogus company was named Aabar Investment PJS Limited.
Loo said she had prepared documents for the contractual arrangements between 1MDB Energy and the bogus Aabar company.
However, she said she had nothing to do with the remittance of US$576,943,490.00 from 1MDB Energy to the fake Aabar, as this was handled by former 1MDB executive director Terence Geh, who also led the firm’s finance department.
From the bogus Aabar company, US$576,943,490.00 and US$790,354,855.00 were deposited into a Blackstone Asia Real Estate account owned by Tan.
“Following this, the funds were deposited into other accounts including Najib’s. I only knew this when it was reported by the media and the DoJ in 2015/2016,” Loo said.
Around 2015, Loo also learnt from an announcement by IPIC to the London Stock Exchange that the Aabar company with “Limited” as a suffix was not its subsidiary.
“I was surprised and asked Jho Low why no party had raised this issue but he instructed me not to interfere in the matter.
“He said not to interfere in Abu Dhabi matters because it involves powerful people,” Loo said.
Her witness statement also highlights other 1MDB investments and acquisitions in energy, as well as various fundraising projects, and dealings with Goldman Sachs’ banker Tim Leissner on raising US$3 billion in bonds.
Najib, 70, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.28 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. – February 16, 2024