I quit because of 1MDB’s state of affairs, says ex-director
KUALA LUMPUR: A former 1MDB director told the High Court in the Najib Razak trial today that he resigned from his role in the company because he refused to take part in the decision-making process. Ismee Ismail said he was also worried about 1MDB’s state of affairs, after having served…
KUALA LUMPUR: A former 1MDB director told the High Court in the Najib Razak trial today that he resigned from his role in the company because he refused to take part in the decision-making process.
Ismee Ismail said he was also worried about 1MDB’s state of affairs, after having served the company from 2009 to 2016.
“I sent my resignation letter to the prime minister’s officer, Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin.
“However, Amhari asked me to postpone my resignation (in 2015) as the government was in the midst of finding new directors for 1MDB.”
During Ismee’s tenure, the company raised RM5 billion in bonds to develop Pulau Bidong, Terengganu, as a tourism spot but the plan did not materialise.
1MDB subsequently entered into an agreement with PetroSaudi International and pumped in US$1 billion for a joint venture in 2009.
The company also raised a total of US$3.5 billion in bonds to purchase two independent power plants in 2012.
Besides that, 1MDB raised US$3 billion in bonds to fund the Tun Razak Exchange project in 2013, as well as taking a US$1.2 billion loan to buy back its shares in two subsidiary companies.
Ismee told the court that he and other directors — former 1MDB chairman Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Ong Gim Huat and Ashvin J Valiram — officially resigned in 2016 after their successors were appointed.
They were replaced by then treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Norazman Ayob and Kamal Mohd Ali.
Meeting with Najib, Jho Low and BSI banker over US$2.3 billion investment
Earlier, Ismee said the company wanted to bring back a US$2.3 billion investment kept in an overseas trust fund.
He said Che Lodin mentioned this during a meeting on Nov 28, 2013 with Najib, former BSI banker Yak Yew Chee, fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and 1MDB management staff.
The meeting was held at Najib’s Langgak Duta house.
“During the meeting, Che Lodin and I put pressure on Yak to liquidate the investment and bring back the money because we needed it desperately.
“However, Yak told us that if we brought the money back, 1MDB would suffer losses because the investment had not reached its maturity period.
“We wanted to show Datuk Seri (Najib) that we were firm in getting the money back and hoped he could assist us in this,” Ismee said.
Previously, the court heard that Low called for the meeting at Najib’s house in an attempt to persuade KPMG auditors to close 1MDB’s 2013 financial statement.
Ismee added that KPMG had raised doubts about 1MDB’s US$2.3 billion investment, kept in fund manager Brazen Sky Ltd, and demanded that 1MDB provide documents for their audit exercise.
The now-defunct BSI Bank, where Yak was a senior banker, was the custodian of this US$2.3 billion investment.
“The issue was that the fund manager had failed to disclose details of the asset,” he said.
Najib is standing trial on 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 continues before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah. — Free Malaysia Today