Najib ‘ordered’ me to sign off on 1MDB’s 2013 financial statement, auditor tells court

KUALA LUMPUR: A senior auditor from KPMG told the High Court in Najib Razak’s 1MDB corruption trial the former prime minister “ordered” him to sign off on the company’s 2013 financial statement.

KPMG’s managing partner, Johan Idris, said Najib wanted the company’s auditor to close the accounts before Dec 31, 2013.

“His remarks were akin to an order,” he said, when asked by deputy public prosecutor Deepa Nair Thevaharan.

KPMG had questioned 1MDB’s US$2.3 billion investment in Brazen Sky Ltd as it could not verify the authenticity of the investment. It also refused to sign off on the 2013 financial statement.

“1MDB had furnished reports from BSI Bank on the Brazen Sky investment, but they were not sufficient for us to come out with an audit report to say that its financial statement was of ‘true and fair view’.

“We wanted more information on the underlying assets in Brazen Sky because the investment was in the form of units,” he said.

Johan also said he was one of the representatives from KPMG to meet 1MDB officials on Nov 29, 2013 to discuss Brazen Sky.

“(1MDB) chairman Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin asked why we could not rely on BSI’s reports on Brazen Sky.

“Ahmad Nasri Abdul Wahab, who was the head of our engagement team, told the chairman that as auditors, we could not merely rely on third party information and that we needed to gather evidence about the ‘existence, accuracy, completeness and valuation’ on Brazen Sky,” he said.

He said then 1MDB CEO Hazem Abdul Rahman informed the meeting that BSI banker Yak Yew Chee had previously met Najib to explain the Brazen Sky investment.

“We requested 1MDB to arrange a meeting with the prime minister so that we could hear from him on whether he was aware about the investment,” he said. — Free Malaysia Today

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