14-2-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) Former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo testified in the High Court today, refuting claims that she had ever entered the private residence of Najib Razak during the period when the then prime minister signed off on investment documents associated with the company.
Loo clarified that she would receive instructions from fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, commonly known as Jho Low, to wait for him at the gate of Najib’s residence.
She revealed that there were instances when Low was already present at the gate upon her arrival.
“On one occasion, Low emerged from Najib’s home in Langgak Duta, and I handed the documents to him. I have never entered Najib’s house,” she stated during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Deepa Nair Thevaharan.
As the 50th prosecution witness, Loo detailed her tenure at 1MDB, spanning from 2011 to November 2013. She described her responsibilities, which included preparing legal documents concerning the company’s overseas investments. Moreover, Loo emphasized Low’s apparent proximity to Najib.
In her testimony, Loo outlined the process wherein she would compile prepared documents into a folder for handover to Low. Subsequently, Low would coordinate for documents bearing Najib’s signature to be returned to her.
“He would send text messages to me, requesting that I collect the documents from third parties and submit them to 1MDB officers for further action,” she explained.
Loo highlighted an unconventional “top-down” approach in 1MDB’s investment decisions, indicating that all decisions were sanctioned by Najib in his capacities as the finance minister and chairman of the company’s board of advisers.
Citing 1MDB as a government-linked company under the purview of Minister of Finance Incorporated, with the ministry holding the golden share, Loo underscored the board of directors’ compliance with Najib’s directives.
She attributed this compliance to a clause in the 1MDB constitution mandating Najib’s authorization for major investments with financial implications for the government.
Najib currently faces 25 charges for abuse of power and money laundering related to alleged 1MDB funds totalling RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The proceedings before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah are ongoing.
