PUTRAJAYA: Low Taek Jho was in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s suite at the Four Seasons Hotel, New York, in November 2009, 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) former director Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin told the High Court today.
Lodin confirmed Low’s presence in Najib’s hotel suite while the then-prime minister was meeting Goldman Sachs executives, including the investment bank’s CEO at the time, Lloyd Craig Blankfein, and Tim Leissner, who is no longer with the firm.
“Yes, Jho Low was in the suite, but he did not participate in the discussion and was in the other room during the discussion between Datuk Seri Najib and Lloyd Blankfein,” Lodin said when testifying as the 12th defence witness for Najib’s RM2 billion 1MDB trial.
Najib’s defence lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin then asked if it was sinister for Najib to meet Goldman Sachs when 1MDB was already the bank’s existing client.
“No, the meeting was neither unusual nor sinister, from my understanding it was part of a broader effort to engage foreign investors and promote Malaysia as an investment destination,” Lodin replied.
This meeting between Najib and Goldman Sachs during the then prime minister’s official visit to New York.
Lodin said the only 1MDB officials in the suite for the meeting were him and then 1MDB CEO and director Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
Lodin said Shahrol had asked him to go to New York and join the prime minister’s delegation, and that he had understood from Shahrol that Najib would be meeting with foreign investors.
Asked by Wan Azwan Aiman, Lodin said there were no indications that Najib had made commitments during the meeting for 1MDB to use Goldman Sachs exclusively for future deals.
Lodin also said Najib did not give any directives to both the 1MDB board and the 1MDB management following the “casual meeting” with Goldman Sachs in New York.
Lodin also said Najib did not instruct the 1MDB board of directors to approve 1MDB deals — which Goldman Sachs had provided advice on — including those relating to 1MDB subsidiaries 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy Langat Limited and 1MDB Global Investment Limited.
In the same 1MDB trial, Najib himself had previously insisted in court that there was nothing “sinister” about his 2009 meeting with Goldman Sachs.
Najib had testified that he did not invite Low to that meeting, and claimed that Low was there in his New York hotel suite due to the alleged culture of people wanting to accompany and be seen with the prime minister.
Najib had claimed that Low was not in and did not participate in the meeting with Goldman Sachs, testifying that Low — better known as Jho Low — was at the far end of the hotel room.
Najib’s 1MDB trial before trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes this afternoon.
