He said he stood by his testimony during the examination-in-chief in November last year, as well as during cross-examination by the defence.

“I can say the same thing I said earlier (that the board of directors was misled by the management).

“‘Bulan puasa tak sedap nak cakap’ (It’s not nice to talk about it during Ramadan),” Ismee said.

Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah then quipped: “During the fasting month, we should also tell the truth.”

Previously, Ismee told the court he had the impression that the 1MDB directors had been made use of to make the company transactions look legitimate.

He said he found out about it after investigations started in 2018 until the 1MDB-related cases were brought to court.

“Misleading information was given to us,” he added.

Ismee also told the court that the directors appeared to be “happy” when management staff informed them that the US$1.23 billion – purportedly paid to redeem the 49% share option granted to Aabar Investments PJS – would be repatriated to Malaysia.

Aabar had assisted 1MDB’s subsidiary companies, 1MDB Energy Ltd and 1MDB Energy (Langat) Sdn Bhd, to obtain the bonds’ guarantee from Abu Dhabi-based International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic).

The subsidiaries were set up to enable 1MDB to acquire shares in two independent power producers (IPPs), Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd and Mastika Lagenda Sdn Bhd.

The court previously heard that a total of US$3.5 billion was raised by Goldman Sachs through bonds for both IPPs.

The prosecution, in its opening statement, said it would adduce evidence to show that part of the US$1.23 billion had ended up in Najib’s bank account.

Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over the alleged misuse of 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

The hearing before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.