KUALA LUMPUR – Prosecution witness Jasmine Loo told the high court today she did not think Low Taek Jho would siphon off millions of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds because he was already a wealthy man.
Under cross-examination in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB corruption trial, Loo said this led her to trust Low, also known as Jho Low, when he deposited over US$9 million (RM42.34 million) into her accounts in Falcon Bank between 2012 and 2013.
“He (Low) was already a very rich man at the time when I met him. He had already owned and controlled UBG Bhd,” said Loo, who is 1MDB’s former general counsel.
“He had already made his millions. I didn’t think he was taking money or using money from 1MDB.
“It never crossed my mind. He was already a wealthy man.
“He claimed that he had businesses… I trusted him at that time,” Loo said to Najib’s lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah during cross-examination.
From the more than US$9 million Low had deposited into her accounts between 2012 and 2013, US$1.8 million was used to purchase a property in London and US$4.5 million was used to buy property in New York.
Loo also told the high court that Low had arranged US$15 million for investment purposes through various entities, including Blackstone Real Estate Corp.
Later, Loo said she had complied with the US Justice Department’s forfeiture of her New York and London properties, as well as the funds in her bank accounts. Among other assets she forfeited was a Picasso painting.
Loo also said in response to Shafee’s questioning that she had obeyed Low’s instructions, as she always saw him as Najib’s spokesman.
She said following Low’s orders had been the usual practice in 1MDB since she joined the company in 2011 and that the company’s former chief executive Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi also conveyed the same to her.
Shafee: Did he (Low) or Shahrol say to you, that Low was the mirror image of Najib, although they look very different?
Loo: Not in the precise words.
Shafee: You know in court; these statements are hearsay.
Loo: I was led to believe that it was true, because of various incidents that Low told me, (where he said) he was going to talk to Najib about some matter, and the (next thing I knew), the matter would materialise.
Shafee: You are a corporate person and a lawyer on top of that. You cannot work on rumours, can you?
Loo: But it’s not rumours, it’s my observation.
Shafee: Hang on! Did you observe Low speak to Najib? Or hear what they were talking about?
Loo: No.
Shafee: So, you accepted these words of this individual. You know Low is a conman and a crook of the highest order, you probably would not find a conman like that in the world.
Loo also insisted that despite the situation being “perfect in hindsight”, she chose to believe what she believed about Low back then.
Najib is facing four charges of using his position to obtain an alleged RM2.3-billion bribe from 1MDB funds, as well as 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah adjourned for today and will continue on April 1. – March 15, 2024
