He said Low Taek Jho told him that the former prime minister wanted the deal to be sealed by 2012, before the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat.
The 13th general election was only held on May 5, 2013 with Barisan Nasional securing 133 parliamentary seats out of the 222 seats the coalition contested.
“There was speculation that Datuk Seri (Najib) wanted to call a general election in 2012.
“Such a decision cannot be done under a caretaker government,” Shahrol said, when questioned by lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammad.
Aizudidin was questioning Shahrol on why the purchase of the power plants was not discussed thoroughly with the other four board directors, namely Ismee Ismail, Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Ong Gim Huat and Ashwin Jethanand.
The lawyer pointed out that the directors had sat through meetings to talk about 1MDB’s earlier purchase of Tanjong Energy Sdn Bhd from tycoon Ananda Krishnan.
Shahrol said 1MDB’s then general counsel Loo Ai Swan asked all directors to sign on the director’s circular resolution (DCR) stating their approval for buying shares of Genting Sanyen, owned by Mastika Lagenda Sdn Bhd.
“Jasmine (Loo) met each one of the directors to explain about the funding and price,” he said.
1MDB bought the 100% stake in Genting Sanyen at a RM2.75 billion price tag.
Goldman Sachs was appointed as financial adviser and tasked with the duty to raise a total of US$3 billion in bonds for both purchases of Genting Sanyen and Tanjong Energy.
Aizuddin also asked the former CEO about a board of directors’ meeting on July 16, 2012 where the directors approved 18 months’ bonus as well as a pay rise for him.
Trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah asked what was the defence’s purpose in asking Shahrol about his salary.
Aizuddin said the defence wanted to show various “wrongdoings” committed under his watch.
Aizuddin: Do you agree there was wrongdoing on your part when you were carrying out your duty as CEO?
Shahrol: Disagree.
The hearing continues on Friday (July 17).
Najib was slapped with 25 charges for abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited in his accounts.
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