KUALA LUMPUR – Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi today denied allegations that he treated fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, as if he were Malaysia’s prime minister.
Testifying as the fourth plaintiff witness in 1MDB’s USD5.64 billion civil suit at the High Court, the 56-year-old former CEO acknowledged that he had communicated with then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak through informal channels, including via Jho Low, Bernama reported.
Shahrol Azral made the clarification during cross-examination by lawyer G.K. Ganesan, who is representing former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jin, the seventh defendant in the suit.
The exchange centred on whether Shahrol Azral had directly informed Najib about a dispute between two countries over ownership of the Serdar oil field project, which was linked to a RM1 billion joint venture agreement.
Ganesan: Did you think it was important or enough for the sitting prime minister (Najib) to know that two different countries were fighting over ownership of the Serdar oil field?
Shahrol Azral: Yes.
The witness also admitted that he was unsure whether Jho Low had conveyed details of the Serdar oil field dispute to Najib.
Ganesan: For all intents and purposes, you treated Jho Low as if he was the prime minister of Malaysia.
Shahrol Azral: I disagree.
The civil suit was filed by 1MDB and its subsidiaries — 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited and Global Diversified Investment Company Limited, formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Limited — on May 7, 2021.
The plaintiffs named Najib, former 1MDB finance director Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee, former general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, Vincent Beng, former chief financial officer Radhi Mohamad, Kelvin Tan and former chief investment officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil as defendants.
Last week, 1MDB withdrew its civil claim against Radhi without liberty to refile, while Jasmine had earlier been removed from the proceedings.
The writ of summons stated that the plaintiffs accused the defendants of, among other allegations, breach of trust, breach of statutory duty, abuse of power and conspiracy to misappropriate 1MDB funds.
The trial before Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus will continue tomorrow. – August 18, 2026