Former second finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said this was what Najib Razak said to him when he advised the then prime minister on the risks of 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) plans to invest in a joint venture with PetroSaudi International Ltd.
Husni, 70, when testifying in the High Court here today, said he voiced his concerns at the end of 2009 after learning from a finance ministry official that 1MDB was in a joint venture with the oil services and production company.
“I went to see Datuk Seri Najib in his office and told him that 1MDB should not enter into a joint venture with Petrosaudi as the company was still in the process of oil exploration … and if oil is not discovered, then the investment would be ‘burnt’.
“I also told the PM (Najib) that 1MDB had no experience in oil exploration and it should be left to Petronas. But since he (Najib) responded in that way, I kept quiet from then on,” he said when reading his witness statement in Najib’s trial over the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion in funds from 1MDB.
The 20th prosecution witness confirmed that the meeting only involved the two of them and it was held at Najib’s office. He said since then, he was never directly involved in any decision or informed about 1MDB’s investments.
Earlier, Husni testified that in mid-2009, he warned about the risks of setting up 1MDB when he learned that the government had decided to take over the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) and rename it as 1MDB.
“I met Datuk Seri Najib in his office to tell him that 1MDB should not be established without a feasibility study.
“This study is important to ensure that 1MDB’s investment will benefit the government. However, when I told the PM about the risks, he simply replied: ‘I will go ahead’. So, I did not say anything else,” Husni said.
Husni also said that in early 2015, Najib called him to resolve problems faced by 1MDB, which was said to be heavily in debt, but he (Husni) refused as he had never been involved in the company’s affairs.
“When Datuk Seri Najib continued to urge me to carry out the task, I met with minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wahid Omar so that he could take over (the task) but Wahid also did not agree to it,” he said.
According to Husni, together with his senior private secretary Imran Yasin Yusof, they drew up a plan called the “1MDB Rationalisation Plan” and among the main tasks in the plan was to obtain information related to 1MDB, its financial position, assets, debts and matters related to its investments.
“Our role was only to draw up the plan but its implementation was under the responsibility of 1MDB’s management and I was not directly involved.
“Based on financial statements that I obtained, I found that 1MDB’s debt on May 20, 2015, was RM48.571 billion while the company’s assets stood at RM49.895 billion,” he said.
Najib, 68, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.