Bekas CEO 1MDB tak tahu sebab digugurkan daripada saman USD5.64 bilion

Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi told the Malaysian High Court that he is unaware of the reason behind his removal as a defendant in a USD5.64 billion civil lawsuit. During his testimony as the fourth plaintiff witness, Shahrol Azral, 56, stated that he had never entered into any agreements to be removed from the lawsuit and had never received any explanations for the decision.

When questioned by attorney GK Ganesan representing former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jin, Shahrol Azral confirmed the removal but admitted he was unaware of the reason. Ganesan also asked if he had signed any settlement agreements to be removed as a defendant, to which Shahrol Azral confirmed he had never made such agreements.

Shahrol Azral also disagreed with counsel Nur Syafinaz Vani Abdullah representing defendant number five, former 1MDB investment director and investment director Vincent Beng Huat Koh, who suggested Shahrol Azral was attempting to link all parties while exonerating himself from responsibility in the multi-billion ringgit scandal involving the country's wealth.

Earlier, attorney Shafee Abdullah representing defendant number one, former Prime Minister Najib Razak, told the court that the prosecution needed four days to conduct cross-examination of Shahrol Azral, while the other attorneys said they needed at least two hours for their cross-examination. The court then continued the cross-examination of Shahrol Azral by the attorneys representing the other defendants.

1MDB and its subsidiary, 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited, and Global Diversified Investment Company Limited (formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Limited) filed the lawsuit on May 7, 2021. The plaintiffs named Najib, former 1MDB finance director Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former 1MDB executive Casey Tang Keng Chee, former legal counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, Vincent Beng, former 1MDB finance director Radhi Mohamad, Kelvin Tan, and former investment director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil as defendants.

Last week, 1MDB agreed to drop its lawsuit against Radhi without the right to reopen it. Earlier, 1MDB also removed Loo's name from the lawsuit. The lawsuit, alleging Shahrol Azral and others committed breach of trust, statutory violation, abuse of power, and conspiracy to defraud 1MDB, continues before Judge Mohamad Redzuan Idrus.