He said that the fugitive businessman told him this during a meeting they had at Shangri-La Hotel, Putrajaya, on July 15, 2012.
Najib’s principal private secretary Azlin Alias, who passed away in 2015, also attended the meeting.
Hazem added that one week before the meeting, he received a call from Azlin asking if he was interested in working in 1MDB as chief operating officer (COO).
He had earlier submitted his curriculum vitae (CV) to one of the company directors, Ismee Ismail.
“That was the first time I met Jho Low, whom I knew as an adviser to the prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib, and that he also played a role in setting up the company,” he said.
However, Hazem told the court that Low did not specifically tell him how he would use 1MDB to assist Umno in business.
Azlin told him, during the meeting, about the formation of Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) and how the federal government had taken control of it and renamed it as 1MDB.
“I was made to understand that 1MDB is a company under Najib’s control as any final decision must go through him.
“The purpose of the meeting, as I understood, was to make me realise that I need to report decisions to Jho Low and Azlin. I had to adhere to the PM’s wishes if I agreed to take the job.
“At that moment, I felt reluctant to work in 1MDB as I may need to follow political-related decisions,” he added.
However, Hazem told the court that he could not turn down the job offer after Najib approved his appointment as COO.
“I was still serving in a Sime Darby subsidiary at that time. If I rejected this job offer, I was afraid this may affect my career at Sime Darby as it is one of the GLCs (government-linked companies) that comes under the PM’s purview,” he said.
Hazem also said, one year later, Low told him that he would be promoted to CEO to replace Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, who had been transferred to the Performance Management and Delivery Unit.
Besides his promotion as CEO, he told the court that Low informed him that the company’s directors also appointed him and then chief financial officer Azmi Tahir as directors in a special purpose vehicle, 1MDB Global Investment Ltd.
The company was set up for 1MDB’s joint venture with Abu Dhabi on the Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia projects.
“I can say that Jho Low was the adviser that Datuk Seri placed in 1MDB for matters related to investments and fundraising.
“He told me that 1MDB’s investments outside of Malaysia were for Umno’s benefit and I could not question them,” Hazem added.
The hearing continues tomorrow before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
The defence previously argued that Hazem’s testimony, made through a written statement, has hearsay elements and must not be admitted.
The prosecution, led by senior lawyer Gopal Sri Ram, however contended it was not hearsay evidence.
Sequerah had said he would allow the prosecution to tender Hazem’s witness statement but he would decide on its admissibility at the close of the prosecution’s case.