Najib’s trial: Zeti says husband never took bribes; 1MDB’s US$1b not the only one with quick BNM approval

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz today stressed that her husband Datuk Tawfiq Aiman had denied taking any bribes, and clarified that 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was not the only company that had received approval from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) within 24 hours to send money out of Malaysia.

Zeti, who was formerly BNM governor from 2000 to 2016, said this while testifying as the 46th prosecution witness in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s trial over RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds.

As part of his continued efforts to challenge Zeti’s credibility as a prosecution witness, Najib’s lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah at around noon read out parts of former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner’s February 22, 2022 testimony during his former colleague Roger Ng’s trial in court in New York.

Based on excerpts read out by Shafee in the High Court, Leissner had claimed that Ng had allegedly told him that 1MDB had in 2009 transferred out US$1 billion from Malaysia for an investment “overnight” and that it was purportedly because then-governor Zeti’s husband had “received a bribe to make that happen” and to ensure the transfer would happen that day.

From the excerpts, Leissner also claimed in the US court that this was “unprecedented at that time” and that “no approval was obtained that quickly” with BNM.

After Shafee read out these excerpts, Zeti said all of Leissner’s claims on this matter were “incorrect”.

Zeti confirmed her husband had issued a statement to respond to Leissner’s claims, saying: “He did, he said he never received a bribe in his whole life.”

Zeti said her husband had also spoken about Leissner and Ng: “He did, he made reference that he doesn’t know these two persons and never met and doesn’t know them at all.”

Zeti said both she and BNM did not issue any statement to address Leissner’s allegations as they were told it would affect the case and they should not issue any comments on it while saying her husband issued the statement as it referred to him personally.

While Shafee claimed that the allegation implies that Zeti’s husband received a bribe and was able to influence her, Zeti said: “Then we need to address that issue separately, how this approval process was given. Am I given the opportunity to say?”

Shafee did not ask her to elaborate but asked her for confirmation that she had never made a press statement to refute the allegation and she confirmed it.

Tawfiq had previously on February 24, 2022, issued a statement where he denied having ever received any bribes from anyone throughout his entire life, and also stating that he does not know and have never met or communicated with Leissner and Ng.

Najib’s lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah at around noon read out parts of former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner’s February 22, 2022 testimony during his former colleague Roger Ng’s trial in court in New York. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

Earlier this morning, Shafee questioned Zeti about the pace of approval for 1MDB to send its US$1 billion out for a purported overseas investment to take up 40 per cent shares in a joint venture with PetroSaudi International, noting that 1MDB had on September 28, 2009 applied to BNM for approval and that BNM had on September 29, 2009 given the approval. Zeti had said such approval was required as it involved the remittance or sending of borrowed funds, and as the US$1 billion was borrowed money raised through the issuance of government guaranteed-bonds.

Shafee questioned Zeti on the speed of BNM’s approval of 1MDB’s US$1 billion transaction: “I’m therefore asking you what is the normal course of events, I put it on 28th, I get approval on 29th. Your officers must be working overnight to approve this US$1 billion so fast that others struggle to get approval.

Zeti firmly replied: “That is not correct, that is not correct.”

“There were at least six other approvals during that period whereby the approval was in one day, because all the documentations are in order. This is not approval for assessment on investment, this is approval for remittance of the funds and if all the documents are in order, in other words, board approval and other required documents for the approved process, then the approval is given.

“And there are six other cases where approval was given in one day, including international corporations that made applications. So this is not unprecedented,” she said, adding that BNM has records about those other approvals.

Earlier today, Zeti also took the opportunity to explain to Shafee that there had been a pre-approval process for 1MDB’s US$1 billion transfer, just like commonly done for other companies.

Zeti said there was already a pre-engagement or preliminary discussion by 1MDB before it applied for BNM’s approval for the US$1 billion transaction, where the company came to discuss at great length with BNM on all the documents required for remitting the US$1 billion and also asked how they could protect 1MDB from foreign exchange exposure.

She added that the approval also requires the signing off by six different officers in BNM including the project officer, the officer’s supervisor, a head of department, assistant governor and deputy governor, noting: “So this whole structure of governance takes place and if everything is in order, the approval is given, and this is not unprecedented as has been said. There are other corporations done in this manner.”

Later in the afternoon, Shafee suggested that 1MDB’s US$1 billion would not have been sent out to the wrong entity via two batches of US$700 million and US$300 million if BNM had not given its approval, but Zeti said: “There was no reason not to approve it because the (1MDB) board had approved the remittance, the government had approved the financing and guarantee of the funds, and that is the reason why Bank Negara approved it.”

Zeti highlighted that it was not a “rogue officer” but 1MDB’s then CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi himself who wrote to BNM to say that the new bank account where the US$1 billion funds would be sent to is a subsidiary of 1MDB’s and PetroSaudi joint venture company, noting that the joint venture was the one that was approved for the funds to be transferred to for investment purposes.

Shafee also questioned the speed in which BNM responded to 1MDB’s emails by asking why it was purportedly done in a “hurry”, but Zeti said: “That is the process for commercial decisions, the central bank does not hold up responding to these operational commercial matters. It’s standard procedure.”

​ Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow morning. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin ​

Later, Shafee asked if Najib had played any role in any wrongdoing such as US$700 million of the US$1 billion going elsewhere contrary to the 1MDB board’s resolution, with Zeti then saying that Najib’s role included submitting to the Cabinet the proposal to have the government give a guarantee for the bonds through which the US$1 billion was raised by 1MDB’s predecessor Terengganu Investment Authority Berhad (TIA).

While Zeti said 1MDB was fully owned by the Finance Ministry and said that 1MDB’s purported joint venture “investment” was found to be non-existent upon investigation, Shafee remarked: “He doesn’t run the company like we used to have a small Chinese family or single-owned companies or an Indian newspaper vendor where he runs it himself, he was the PM, he can’t be running everything.”

Zeti claimed that then finance minister Najib’s position as the chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers was an executive position and that he would have awareness about 1MDB’s investment that was supposed to take place and exclaimed that there was no such investment at all.

Shafee then showed Zeti the company constitution of 1MDB, with Zeti confirming that she did not see Article 93 — which was read out to her — as stating that the chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board had an executive position. She also said she had no knowledge about whether Najib had taken any executive action as the 1MDB’s advisory board’s chairman.

But Zeti also questioned if the finance minister would have had no awareness of 1MDB’s investment when the company was under the Finance Ministry’s ownership.

Shafee later asked Zeti if she had seen then PM Najib’s “dirty hands” or traces of his involvement in the nitty-gritty of false representations being made to BNM and Deutsche Bank to send the US$700 million of the US$1 billion contrary to 1MDB board’s resolution, with Zeti then again highlighting Najib’s position as finance minister then while also saying: “I have no knowledge about what his involvement was at that material time.”

Today, lawyer Nik Azila Shuhada Nik Abdullah held a watching brief for BNM, while lawyer Datuk Joshua Kevin Sathiaseelan held a watching brief for Zeti.

Najib’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow morning, with Shafee to continue cross-examining Zeti and saying today that he expects to take the “whole week” to ask her questions.