1MDB investment did not bring profit - Investigating officer
29/05/2024
Nur Aida (second, right) appeared as the 49th prosecution witness in the 1MDB fund embezzlement case that Najib faced in the High Court today.
1MDB investment did not bring profit - Investigating officer
Nur Aida (second, right) appeared as the 49th prosecution witness in the 1MDB fund embezzlement case that Najib faced in the High Court today. - Named Pictures
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today was told that the investment made by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) did not bring any profit, and even caused the country's strategic investment company to suffer losses.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Investigating Officer Senior Superintendent Nur Aida Ariffin, 37, said this when refuting the suggestion of advocate Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin regarding 1MDB which generates profits through its investments in various sectors.
Wan Azwan Aiman then gave an example of 1MDB's investment in the power acquisition sector (IPP) from Mastika Lagenda Sdn Bhd and Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd which is said to give 1MDB a profit but Nur Aida disagreed and stated that the power was eventually sold to investors from China to pay off debt 1MDB.
The 49th prosecution witness said this when cross-examined by Wan Azwan Aiman, who represented Datuk Seri Najib Razak, during the trial of the corruption and money laundering case of Najib, who is also the former Prime Minister, involving RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds.
Wan Azwan Aiman: Although you have concluded that all the projects that 1MDB participated in failed, agree with me that we now have the Tun Razak Exchange Tower (TRX) building.
Nur Aida: Correct, I said 1MDB suffered a loss because TRX was not developed using 1MDB's own investment money as found in the joint venture agreement at the initial stage, instead 1MDB had to get separate investment by getting other companies to invest to develop TRX.
The witness said the results of his investigation found that the funds obtained for the development of TRX or its original name Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD) had been misappropriated and that the development of TRX was actually financed by foreign investors.
"Meanwhile, to bear the impact of 1MDB's debt from the acquisition of IPP through the guarantee of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), Datuk Seri Najib has instructed his Special Officer, Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazarudin to conclude a confidential agreement called the Binding Term Sheet (BTS) between IPIC and Malaysian government," he said.
On 4 Sept 2019, Amhari Efendi when testifying as a witness in this trial revealed that Najib had ordered him to meet the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mubadala in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Khaldoon Mubarak for confidential work to discuss the 1MDB debt guaranteed by IPIC without having to be taken to the International Court.
Amhari Efendi said he was instructed by Najib to do that because at that time, the Abu Dhabi side wanted to bring the BTS issue between IPIC and 1MDB to the International Court of Arbitration.
Amhari Efendi said "Datuk Seri Najib said I have to go to confirm with the Abu Dhabi side that the two countries agree to resolve this problem without going to the International Court. This is one of Datuk Seri Najib's confidential gestures to me because at that time The issue of 1MDB's debt to IPIC is being hotly debated."
In today's proceedings, the defense finished cross-examining important prosecution witnesses after a 16-day cross-examination session.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib then began a re-examination of Nur Aida involving bank documents through Joint Legal Assistance (MLA) from Barbados, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.
BERNAMA
