PUTRAJAYA: A former investigating officer in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case said he did not recommend the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) press charges against several former management staff.
Testifying at the 1MDB trial involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak, former Senior Assistant Commissioner R. Rajagopal said he made no recommendations to charge former 1MDB CEOs Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, as well as former CFOs Azmi Tahir and Radhi Mohamad.
Due to this, the public prosecutor did not proceed to file charges against these individuals.
The witness was under examination-in-chief by Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, on Wednesday.
Rajagopal said that charges were filed against several individuals who could not be found so that arrest warrants could be obtained for Interpol red notices.
Muhammad Shafee asked, “Did you receive any instructions to charge (former 1MDB general counsel) Jasmine Loo?”
Rajagopal replied, “For Jasmine, she absconded from Malaysia at that point. To ensure her arrest, I had to recommend a charge under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.
The public prosecutor agreed. A red notice was obtained for Jasmine.”
Loo was charged in absentia in December 2018, accused of laundering US$5mil and US$999,975, being proceeds of unlawful activity received into the account of River Dee International SA (BVI) in Falcon Private Bank AG in Zurich.
She returned to Malaysia in July 2023 and has since become the prosecution’s witness.
Others charged in absentia included fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, Low’s aide Tan Kim Loong, former 1MDB executive director Tang Keng Chee, and ex-1MDB official Geh Choh Heng.
Rajagopal said 1MDB investigations are still ongoing even after his retirement in 2023.
He said the police are still waiting for some overseas documents for investigation purposes.
On Oct 30 last year, Najib was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence on four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil in gratification from 1MDB’s funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Thursday (March 12).
-TheStar