{
  "id": 1721492,
  "title": "Bekas CEO 1MDB nafi layan Jho Low seperti PM",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/bekas-ceo-1mdb-nafi-layan-jho-low-seperti-pm-1721492",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T12:32:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/08/18/bekas-ceo-1mdb-nafi-layan-jho-low-seperti-pm"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi admitted to not knowing whether Jho Low had informed Prime Minister Najib Razak about the controversy involving the Serdar oilfield project. Kuala Lumpur: Halmi informed the High Court today that he had never served as Jho Low's business contact, or as the Prime Minister, like some of his accusers claimed. However, a fourth witness in the 1MDB civil lawsuit claims he did communicate with the Prime Minister via an informal channel, Jho Low. He said this when questioned by counsel Ganesan, representing former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jin, who is also one of seven defendants. The issue arose when Ganesan questioned whether Halmi, 56, felt it was important or necessary for Najib to know about the controversy regarding the jointly owned Serdar project between two countries and two RM1 billion investment agreements. Ganesan asked whether Halmi believed it was important or necessary for Najib to know about the Serdar project controversy, to which he responded, \"Yes.\" The witness also admitted he had no knowledge whether Jho Low had informed Najib about the Serdar oilfield project controversy. Ganesan: \"In fact, you are treating Jho Low as if he were Malaysia's Prime Minister.\" Halmi: \"I disagree.\" 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, naming Najib, former 1MDB finance director Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former 1MDB finance director Casey Tang Keng Chee, former legal counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, Vincent Beng, former finance chief Radhi Mohamad, Kelvin Tan and former investment director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil as defendants. Last week, 1MDB agreed to drop the civil suit against Radhi without the right to re-file it. Earlier, 1MDB also dropped Loo's name from the lawsuit. The lawsuit, which accuses the plaintiffs of breach of trust, statutory negligence, abuse of power and conspiring to defraud 1MDB, continues before Chief Justice Mohamad Redzuan Idrus.",
  "summary": "Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi berkata, beliau pernah berkomunikasi dengan Najib Razak melalui Jho Low namun tidak layan ahli perniagaan itu seolah-olah dia PM.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}