Najib told the High Court here that he met ex-1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and former director Ismee Ismail on the evening of May 22, 2009, following their audience with Terengganu’s Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin over the deal.
He said both men wanted to meet him to discuss what had happened during the audience.
In previous proceedings, Shahrol testified that he and Ismee were summoned to Istana Terengganu on Jalan Kia Peng here to meet Sultan Mizan. He said the sultan was furious over the IMTN issuance.
Ismee testified that they had abided by Sultan Mizan’s order and signed documents to suspend the issuance of the bonds.
Najib said he asked the duo if they had kept a copy of a board resolution passed in connection with the suspension, but that they were not given a copy of the document.
“They mentioned that all IMTN agreements had been executed. Shahrol also said that the bonds were fully subscribed for and that halting the IMTNs would see the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) breaching its contractual obligations.
“I recall being concerned about the government guarantee and the potential impact on the bond market if TIA breached its contracts,” said Najib.
The IMTNs were for the purpose of securing a RM5 billion loan for TIA.
Najib denied instructing Shahrol to proceed with the IMTN issuance or saying that he would “talk to Tuanku”.
Najib also disputed Ismee’s testimony, claiming it insinuated that he had a hidden agenda, as Ismee had said that Najib wanted the IMTN issuance to proceed as planned.
“As someone with a background in finance, Ismee should have recognised the validity of my concern as opposed to insinuating that my concerns were unjustified and driven by an ulterior motive,” Najib said.
“Neither Shahrol nor Ismee seemed certain about how to handle the situation, and I was also unsure at that moment,” he added.
Najib said that due to this uncertainty, he had offered no suggestions or advice on how to resolve the matter as he needed time to process what he had been told by the duo.
Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.