Former 1MDB CEO received 18 months’ bonus
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today heard that the former chief executive officer (CEO) of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) received 18 months’ bonus in 2012, when he was earning over RM80,000 per month.
Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, 49, said he also received, as a member of the 1MDB board of directors, the same allowance as the other board members, which was RM179,000 a year and RM1,500 per meeting.
The ninth prosecution witness was replying to questions from senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram on the 16th day of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s 1MDB trial.
Sri Ram: Did the accused express any approval of your work
Shahrol Azral: Oh yes.
Sri Ram: Can you give an example of an incident where he expressed approval
Shahrol Azral: Either in 2011 or 2012, I received a call in my office from the then private secretary to the PM, who told me the PM was on the line.
“At that time, Datuk Seri Najib wanted to know about the status of the corporate social responsibility projects that we were conducting at the time for Yayasan 1MDB.
“I was very excited and I recall during that conversation that I impolitely cut off Datuk Seri Najib a couple of times while he was asking questions as I knew what he was asking. I had the answers and I was very pleased to be speaking to him directly,” he said.
Sri Ram: Why were you pleased
Shahrol Azral: He was the PM, you don’t get the chance to talk to the PM every day.
“Then a few days later, Jho Low told me that he (Jho Low) spoke with Najib who mentioned to him about that call and he (Jho Low) told me that ‘boss was pleased, and Shahrol seems to be on top of things’.”
When asked whether he received any monetary reward after that, the witness said he got a bonus for 2012.
Sri Ram: How many months’ bonus
Shahrol Azral: 18 months. At the time my salary was around RM80,000.
The witness also said that he earned RM80,000 a month when he started out at Terengganu Investment Authority Berhad, the precursor of 1MDB.
“At 1MDB, I received an increment every year. My last drawn salary was RM99,000,” he said.
Najib, 66, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from the 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The Pekan Member of Parliament allegedly committed the four offences at the AmIslamic Bank Berhad branch in Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon here between Feb 24, 2011 and Dec 19, 2014, and the money laundering offences between March 22, 2013 and Aug 30, 2013, at the same place.
The hearing before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues Monday.
— BERNAMA
