Former special officer Wan Ahmad Shihab Wan Ismail told the High Court in Najib’s 1MDB trial that the invitations came from Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian princes.
In August 2009, Shihab said that Najib, Rosmah Mansor, their children (Nor Ashman, Nooryana) as well as stepson Riza Aziz and others holidayed at the Kuwaiti prince’s yacht, known as RM Elegance.
“(Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho) Jho Low told me that the prime minister and family would be going for a vacation on a yacht in southern France.
“He (Low) asked me to make arrangements for the trip,” he added.
The witness said Najib was not asked to pay for the southern France trip. Shihab also joined in the trip as the officer on duty.
“We took the government’s ACJ319 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Nice on Aug 15. Upon arrival, a man known as Mr Sahle took us straight to RM Elegance,” Shihab testified.
He told the court that on the second day of the holiday, Najib informed him that a Saudi prince had invited the family to have high tea at the prince’s yacht.
“I recalled the Saudi prince’s name was Prince Turki. I told Mr Sahle to arrange a boat for the family to travel and meet Prince Turki,” he said.
According to Shihab, Najib’s family subsequently met Prince Turki and PetroSaudi International (PSI) director Tarek Obaid on the prince’s yacht.
“I don’t know the purpose of this meeting. I was outside the yacht and I only came into the (yacht’s) hall when the prime minister asked me to take some photos,” he said.
Shihab said after some time, Tarek asked him to email the photos taken on the yacht.
Shihab also said Najib and his family were invited to another holiday in Greece and Italy on a yacht belonging to a Saudi prince in July 2010.
During the trip, he said Rosmah’s acquaintance, known as Natasha, contacted him because she and several others wanted to meet Rosmah.
“I asked Natasha to contact the yacht’s captain on when the yacht would be docking in Rome,” Shihab added.
Natasha, whose real name is Shabnam Naraindas Daswani, is a Singaporean fashion designer. She is wanted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for 1MDB-related investigations.
Shihab said Najib’s family also went on another trip on a yacht in France in July 2013.
The trip was after an invitation from Abu Dhabi prince, Sheikh Mansour, he added.
“When we arrived in London on July 4, 2013, a person in charge of the trip, Robert Shepherd, received us at the airport and took us to the yacht called Topaz.
“On the second day, I saw US actor Jamie Foxx on board the Topaz. I was told that he was one of Sheikh Mansour’s guests,” he said.
Others who subsequently joined Najib and the family on Topaz were Jho Low, Riza and Hollywood producer Joey McFarland.
Shihab told the court that Shepard informed him that no payments were charged to Najib and the family for the trip on Topaz.
Under cross-examination by Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah on the name of Prince Turki’s yacht, Shihab said it was Alfa Nero.
Shafee: Who is Tarek?
Shihab: I was told he was linked to the Saudi royal court.
The lawyer then asked whether the August 2009 trip was mooted “out of the blue” by Jho Low.
“He (Jho Low) sent me a message about this. That is why I needed to verify with the PM because I didn’t see anything in writing,” Shihab said.
Jho Low’s access to Middle Eastern royalty
Shihab said he first met Jho Low in Washington between 2007 and 2008 during Najib’s visit to the US.
“Nor Ashman (who was with me) told me that Jho Low is the brother of Taek Szen, a family friend (of Najib).
“He usually communicated with me through BBM (Blackberry Messenger), WhatsApp and emails,” he added.
Shihab said Jho Low had previously extended him copies of emails related to 1MDB matters.
Among the emails were issues related to the Sungai Besi airport land issue and 1MDB’s bid to evict 22 families staying along Jalan Barat off Jalan Imbi.
“(Former Batu MP) Tian Chua had questioned the development of the Sungai Besi airport and Datuk Seri (Najib) wanted 1MDB to give a response to Tian Chua.
“The land eviction case received wide coverage in the Chinese media and Jho Low asked (former 1MDB CEO) Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi to seek my views on the political perspective,” Shihab said.
Shihab said Jho Low had easy access to Middle Eastern royal family members.
“Each time when I had to deal with the royals, he (Jho Low) would put me through to the highest levels.
“He would inform me ahead of time when they would be in touch with the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office),” he added.
Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing before trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah will resume tomorrow.