Azmi said then 1MDB CEO Hazem Abdul Rahman had asked him to “look for another auditor” in December 2013.

This was in case KPMG – 1MDB’s auditor at the time – did not sign off on the company’s 2013 financial statement.

“I called some people in BDO but it appeared unlikely that they were going to consider (acting for 1MDB),” he said. “1MDB was so ‘famous’ in the news, so they might not want to act for us.”

Previously, the court was told that KPMG had raised questions on 1MDB’s US$2.3 billion investment in Brazen Sky Ltd and refused to sign off on its 2013 financial statement.

KPMG managing partner Johan Idris had met Najib at his house in Langgak Duta on Dec 15, 2013, as the auditor wanted to hear the former prime minister’s explanation on the Brazen Sky investment.

However, following the meeting, it still refused to sign off on the 2013 financial statement, prompting 1MDB to replace it with Deloitte.

Deloitte acted for 1MDB from 2013 but resigned in 2016 after the US Department of Justice filed civil forfeiture lawsuits to recover US$1.7 billion misappropriated from the sovereign wealth fund.

Azmi said that Deloitte was prepared to talk to 1MDB, in taking over KPMG’s job.

“I don’t know if the suggestion to change our auditors came from members of the management or board of directors. I only executed Hazem’s instructions,” he said, when questioned by lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohamed.

Najib faces 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.

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