Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman told the Najib Razak corruption trial that this was the perception he had from his conversation with Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, during a meeting in 2012 before he joined 1MDB.
Former prime minister Najib is facing 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked the witness to confirm if 1MDB was fully owned by the government through Minister of Finance (Incorporated) or MoF Inc, to which Hazem agreed.
“Jho Low is not and will never be an Umno member but he told you that 1MDB is for the benefit of Umno. Did you realise at that time this would go against Company Law?” Shafee asked.
Hazem said, “Jho Low said that 1MDB would be involved in the TRX (Tun Razak Exchange) project, and I assumed some contracts will be given to companies with political links, that was my expectation”.
Pressed further by Shafee, Hazem said that during his three years’ tenure, he had not seen any projects awarded to Umno-linked contractors or money paid to the political party.
Shafee: Jho Low could be making misrepresentions because there was no way for you to determine the truth of what he said?
Hazem: He could be.
Hazem told the court he saw Low as a soft spoken and confident person when they first met.
“(Najib’s former private secretary) Azlin (Alias) and other special officers such as Wan Shihab (Wan Ismail), Amhari (Efendi Nazaruddin) knew him. They said he has access to the prime minister,” Hazem added.
Shafee then rebuked Hazem’s reply as hearsay, saying that the officers would not be in a position to confirm if Low’s directions really came from Najib.
“It becomes hearsay only for you,” Hazem said.
Earlier, Hazem told the court he did not have access to the monthly statement for the bank account of 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited despite being one of the account’s signatories.
Shafee said the company’s former deputy chief finance officer Geh Choh Heng had instructed Falcon Bank branch in Hong Kong to retain the statements.
“Is it appropriate for 1MDB to keep your correspondence with the bank a secret?”
Hazem said he could not comment.
The hearing continues before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Thursday.