Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam said the defence’s questions for former 1MDB director Ismee Ismail were not only irrelevant but also unfair.
Najib’s lawyer, Hariharan Tara Singh, asked Ismee about former CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi’s decision to proceed with the issuance of RM5 billion in Islamic bonds for the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) despite Terengganu ruler Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin’s order to suspend the bonds issuance.
“Are you aware of Shahrol’s ‘disobedience’?” Hariharan asked.
Mustaffa stood up to tell High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that questions relating to Shahrol and his conduct should have been raised when Shahrol had taken the stand previously.
Shahrol had testified in the trial from Sept 23, 2019 to Sept 3, 2020.
“Counsel (Hariharan) must be fair to the witness (Ismee). It was in Shahrol’s testimony that he received instructions from the accused (Najib) to proceed with the bonds’ issuance,” Mustaffa said.
Sequerah then noted that Shahrol had been confronted by the defence throughout the 40 days that he had taken the stand.
The judge also said the defence’s questions regarding the former CEO’s relationship with Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, should have been addressed to Shahrol.
Hariharan responded by saying the defence wanted to demonstrate through Ismee and Mohd Bakke Salleh that Shahrol and Low had a close relationship and that it was Shahrol who had disobeyed Sultan Mizan’s orders.
Bakke was the former 1MDB chairman and is due to testify later.
Hariharan: When you attended meetings with Jho Low and Shahrol, did you notice how “close” they were?
Ismee: I did not.
Ismee also told the court he only found out about the offer to join TIA – the precursor to 1MDB – after his office received a phone call from the Terengganu palace.
“I didn’t check who recommended me,” he said, in response to Hariharan’s questions on whether Low had introduced Ismee to TIA.
Najib is charged with 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited in his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing continues.