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Former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo said the RM100 million ended up as a ‘gift’ from Jho Low.
Fugitive Jho Low deposited RM100m into Jasmine’s bank account
KUALA LUMPUR, April 5, 2024: The trial of disgraced and shameless former premier Najib “1MDB’”today heard that RM100 million was deposited into Jasmine Loo’s bank account.
Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) general counsel Loo did not dispute the amount stated by Najib’s defence counsel, Shafee Abdullah.
Najib is facing 25 charges for 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.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a news report on the court proceedings:
Jho Low deposited RM100mil in Jasmine Loo’s bank account, court told
-05 Apr 2024, 01:35 PM
The money was initially held in trust for the fugitive financier, but Jasmine Loo later became its beneficiary.
Former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo said the RM100 million ended up as a ‘gift’ from Jho Low.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here heard today that close to RM100 million was deposited into an account of former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo by fugitive Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
Najib Razak’s defence counsel, Shafee Abdullah, who cross-examined Loo, told the court this information came from a deputy inspector-general of police whom he did not identify.
Loo did not dispute the amount stated by Shafee.
The 50th prosecution witness in the former prime minister’s power abuse and money laundering case said the money came into her account between 2011 and 2014, but the bulk was deposited in 2014.
Shafee: Why did he give you RM100 million for someone who had acted as legal adviser to 1MBD?
Loo: I held the money in trust.
Shafee: Did you end up as a beneficiary?
Loo: Yes, it was a gift.
Loo told the court she left 1MDB in November 2013 after serving the government-linked company for two-and-a-half years as she wanted to pursue other opportunities “like doing investment”.
She said she was now paying about RM2.5 million to the Inland Revenue Board from the RM100 million.
She also said she did not negotiate with the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for her safe return, but that her lawyers were in talks with former attorney-general Idrus Harun before her return home last July.
“I wanted a safe passage from Myanmar and did not want the Malaysian embassy in that country to be involved,” she said.
She said she was hopeful that the criminal charges against her would be dropped as she had returned all the assets that were purchased from 1MDB money.
Given a fake Myanmar passport
Earlier, Loo told the court she entered Myanmar illegally from Bangkok in 2019 although she was carrying a Malaysian passport.
“I was told by Low that my passport would be stamped by the Myanmar military, but it was not done. I was arrested by the military and held at a home,” she said.
She said that with Low’s help, she was given a fake Myanmar passport to move freely in that country.
At this juncture, deputy public prosecutor Mustaffa Kunyalam objected to the line of questioning as he said it was irrelevant to the charges faced by Najib.
However, trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah dismissed it as he said the defence was only attempting to destroy Loo’s credibility.
To another question by Shafee, Loo said she did not know if Low was close to Tawfiq Ayman, the husband of former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Sequerah interjected and asked Shafee to move on as Loo has already said she was unaware of Tawfiq’s relationship with the fugitive financier.
However, she agreed with Shafee that Low name-dropped Zeti, saying he would “take care” of her.
Najib is facing 25 charges for 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 trial has been adjourned to April 22.
Conspiring against Najib would mean ‘digging own grave’, says Jasmine Loo
-05 Apr 2024, 04:47 PM
Key prosecution witness denies colluding with 1MDB’s top executives in her capacity as legal counsel.
Former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo said Najib Razak was well aware of the contents of documents he was signing in relation to the company’s investments. (Bernama pic)
KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo told the High Court hearing Najib Razak’s corruption trial that it would have been foolish of her to conspire against the former prime minister to siphon money from the GLC.
“That will be equivalent to digging my own grave, ” Loo said when re-examined by deputy public prosecutor Deepa Nair Thevaharan today.
Deepa had asked for Loo’s response after defence counsel Shafee Abdullah accused the witness of colluding with then 1MDB chief executive officer Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and other top executives of the company.
During cross-examination, Shafee had also labelled Shahrol a “crook”.
Loo said she was investigated in 2016 after news of the 1MDB scandal broke out in the public domain.
“The bank (Bank Negara Malaysia) took a statement from me, but not the police,” she said.
Loo, who is a key prosecution witness, said Najib, who also held the finance portfolio, had cleared her of wrongdoing during her tenure with 1MDB.
“When replying to a question by Kelana Jaya PKR MP Wong Chen, Najib stated I was no longer on the bank’s watch list,” she said.
She also said she did not meet Najib to explain legal matters to him as this was done by the company’s executives.
“I, on my own, could not meet him as people like Shahrol were in a better position to advise Najib,” she said.
Loo said she had accepted gifts from fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, in good faith and with no strings attached.
She also said she believed Najib, who was also the chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers, was well aware of the contents of documents he was signing in relation to the company’s investments.
Further re-examined by DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib, Loo said she had not been charged with any offence so far.
She said she vaguely remembered that Najib had distanced himself from Low in 2015 after the media began reporting on the financial scandal.
According to the US Department of Justice, more than US$4 billion was stolen from the 1MDB fund and spent on art, diamonds and properties.
Najib is facing 25 charges for 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 trial before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah has been adjourned to April 22, with Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigating officer Nur Aida Arifin likely to take the stand.
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