Former minister Noh Omar (left) told the High Court that former prime minister Najib Razak could have expedited TIA’s federalisation if he had wanted to, but he did not.
The former MP tells the High Court he only heard of Najib Razak’s alleged interest in TIA’s federalisation during the 1MDB trial today.
PUTRAJAYA:
Former minister Noh Omar claims he was “shocked” to hear that former prime minister Najib Razak was “interested” in federalising the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).
Testifying in Najib’s 1MDB trial in the High Court, Noh said he only heard of the purported interest for the first time today, when deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar raised it during cross-examination.
Kamal had said that one of the contentions in the 1MDB case concerned Najib’s alleged interest in 1MDB – from its initial establishment as TIA up until the federal government’s takeover.
“Did he declare his interest in TIA before the Cabinet’s meeting?” asked Kamal.
Noh replied by asking the prosecution’s basis for saying Najib had an interest.
Kamal: You just need to answer “yes” or “no”.
Noh: He did not (declare any interest).
When Kamal suggested that Najib had wanted the federal government to take over TIA, Noh disagreed.
‘Najib suggested TIA remain with T’ganu govt’
During examination-in-chief earlier today, Noh told the High Court that the finance ministry – led by Najib – had during Cabinet meetings throughout June 2009, suggested that TIA remain with the Terengganu government.
He said the Cabinet later agreed to take over the entity because of “problems” within TIA.
“This decision (to take over TIA) was the Cabinet’s collective decision,” said Noh.
He also claimed that had Najib wanted to speed up TIA’s federalisation, he could have done it “within one week”.
Noh also said the topic of setting up TIA was first brought to the Cabinet’s attention on Dec 12, 2008. At the time, Najib was finance minister in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration.
“(Najib) could have prepared the Cabinet papers one week after (the meeting on Dec 12, 2008) if he had such an intention. But he only presented the papers after four months,” he said.
Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing continues on March 27 before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
2025-03-25T16:00:00Z
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