“I think as a civil servant, there is some degree of instruction when the prime minister pens down his notes on documents or letters.
“When I read it, to me it means that ‘this is a thing that I had agreed to and please execute’,” he said, when questioned by lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed about Najib’s handwritten note, sent to him by then 1MDB director Ismee Ismail.
The defence contended that Najib’s written note was not an instruction but merely an advice to the directors.
Ismee had in 2014 sent a memo to Najib, seeking the then prime minister’s approval to take up a US$975 million loan with Deutsche Bank AG.
In the memo, Shahrol said, Najib penned the words “YBhg Tan Sri Ismee. Noted the contents with no objection”.
Aizuddin then pointed out to Shahrol that under Article 93 of 1MDB’s company constitution, Najib, as the then board of advisers’ chairman, did not have power to make decisions for the company.
The lawyer added that Najib’s role was merely to advise the board of directors.
“Yes, the chairman advises but at the same time, he was the finance minister and 1MDB shareholder. His words carried more weight than an adviser’s. He can choose whatever hat to put on. In our perception, we take his instructions seriously,” Shahrol said.
Aizuddin asked Shahrol if the witness saw himself as a government servant and Shahrol answered in the affirmative.
“Until 2018, I considered myself a civil servant”.
Meanwhile, Shahrol also said the directors were never briefed about the payments, amounting to US$699.3 million, made to a company registered in Seychelles in 2014. He added that the 1MDB directors did not consent for the payments to be issued from 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd to Aabar Investments PJS’ (Seychelles).
The court previously heard that 1MDB Energy obtained two loans amounting to US$1.23 billion from Deutsche Bank Singapore between May and August 2014. The loans consisted of US$250 million as bridging loan and US$975 million as a facility loan.
The prosecution contended that more than US$175 million from the US$250 million bridging loan had been paid to Aabar BVI’s BSI bank account, allegedly as part of payments to “redeem the option given as additional security” for purchases of two independent power plant companies.
Meanwhile, it said, more than US$690 million from the facility loan was deposited into Aabar Seychelles’ account between Sept 3 and 30, 2014.
The prosecution said it would adduce evidence to show that part of the US$1.23 billion, or RM49.9 million, had ended up in Najib’s bank account.
The hearing continues before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah tomorrow. Co-counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said he would conclude his cross-examination tomorrow before ad-hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram continues to re-examine.
Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power charges over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.