KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak today denied pressuring 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) executives to enter into a joint venture (JV) with PetroSaudi International Ltd, which allegedly caused the company to incur losses of US$1 billion.
The former prime minister said documents produced in court clearly showed that the 1MDB's board of directors was already ready to participate in the JV with PetroSaudi International prior to his brief exchange with 1MDB's former chairman Tan Sri Bakke Salleh on Sept 26, 2009.
The prosecution in its case against Najib had contended that he had pressured 1MDB top management to enter into the JV through a phone call with Bakke organised by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
"The conduct of the 1MDB BOD, including the act of opening the joint bank account one day before the purported 'direction' given by me, is most telling as the board were raring to get down to business before my brief exchange with Bakke.
"The evidence shows that the board was very keen to collaborate with PetroSaudi International Ltd otherwise they would not have opened a joint bank account," he told the High Court.
Najib said this in his witness statement to defend himself from all power abuse and money laundering charges involving RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds.
The trial revealed that out of the US$1 billion allocated for the joint venture, US$700 million was transferred to accounts unrelated to the venture, while only US$300 million was deposited into the joint venture's account.
Najib also denied he had directed the BOD to pass a resolution for management to sign the JV agreement.
He said since the BOD was still in the process of negotiating with the JV partner, they should have finalised the terms of the JV before proceeding.
"Instead, former 1MDB chief executive Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi signed the JV agreement, prematurely determining the value of the assets without the BOD's approval.
"I did not have any personal interest in the JV. If I did, I could have dictated to the BOD the timing of signing the JV agreement, the specific entity to partner with, the terms to be agreed upon, and even the choice of bank for opening an account," he said.
Najib said the US$1 billion loss could not be attributed to him or any alleged directive for the board of directors to approve the joint venture with PetroSaudi International, asserting that the responsibility lay with the management, particularly Shahrol.
"From the evidence it is plain and clear that Low together with 1MDB management in particular Shahrol and Casey Tang conspired with PetroSaudi International directors Tarek Obaid and Patrick Mahoney to misappropriate US$700 million from 1MDB.
"Tarek Obaid received US$120 million, Patrick Mahoney received US$33 million and Low retained for himself the balance of US$547 million.
"Shahrol's explanation for the remittance of the US$1 billion in defiance of the BOD's instructions, as implausible as it is, granted unwarranted credibility not for its merit but because it serves a politically motivated agenda against me.
"Holding Shahrol accountable would undoubtedly expose the fragility of his narrative and damage his credibility.
"Isn't he lucky that I am the accused person? Because if I were not the former prime minister and finance minister, I truly believe the stand he would be occupying wouldn't be the witness stand by the dock," he added.
In August 2024, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court convicted Obaid and Mahoney for embezzling over US$1.8 billion from 1MDB, sentencing them to seven and six years in prison, respectively.