'I was pressured by Jho Low to get bond for TIA'

KUALA

LUMPUR: Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief executive officer told the High Court yesterday that he was pressured by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho who is also known as Jho Low to obtain Islamic Medium Term Notes (IMTN) for the Terengganu Investment Authority Berhad (TIA) project.

Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, 49, who was the ex-TIA CEO said Jho Low wanted him to so do on the grounds that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and DYMM Tuanku Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin who was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (then) asked him to expedite the fund raising programme as the operation of TIA began without any fund.

“I was initially informed by Jho Low that there was a proposal by the federal government to issue government guarantees (GG) for the RM5 billion loan by TIA to increase funds in TIA. "The GG will be used to guarantee loans by TIA which will be made via the issuing of IMTN bonds through local banks. The IMTN bond issuance programme valued at RM5 billion for 30 years, actually began before I join TIA.

“When I join TIA, I was told by Jho Low that a Steering Committee Comprising Tan Sri Bakke (Mohd Bakke Salleh), Tan Sri Azlan (Azlan Zainol) and Tan Sri Ismee (Ismee Ismail) had started discussion on the RM5 billion bond issuance for TIA. The programme explained by Jho Low who acted as Fund Raising Advisor at the initial stage and later appointed as consultant, was tabled at TIA Steering Committee,” he said.

“Therefore since then, the IMTN programme became an important agenda to obtain the initial funds for TIA operation. When I join TIA, I acted as an implementer based on the policy agreed by the Steering Committee.

“I was told by Jho Low to continue the policy and implementation of IMTN as wanted by DYMM Tuanku Mizan and the federal government. Based on this, I continued the programme as planned,” he said.

Elaborating further, the ninth prosecution witness said at the initial stage of TIA operation, he had to use a UBG meeting room at the KLCC Twin Towers and Jho Low as a senior officer of UBG was asking about the progress of the IMTN programme almost every day.

“I considered him as an advisor of TIA who had received orders from the stakeholders to expedite the issuance of IMTN. I have no other choice but to abide by the requirements of the stakeholders.

"My background is in engineering, so when IMTN was evaluated earlier by the Steering Committee with financial and corporate background, I feel confident and comfortable to continue speeding up the agenda,” he said.

In clarifying further, the witness said his first move was to appoint AmInvestment Bank Berhad as the Lead Arranger, Lead Manager and Primary Subscriber to obtain the IMTN worth RM5 billion.

He said the proposal to appoint AmInvestment Bank Berhad was suggested by financial consultant, Goldman Sachs (M). – Bernama