1MDB trial: Jho Low and Riza were good friends who went on ski trips, court told

KUALA LUMPUR: Fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, the stepson of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, were good friends who went on ski trips together, the High Court heard.

Jasmine Loo, a former general counsel of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), testified that she had first met Riza Shahriz on a ski trip with Low (also known as Jho Low) and his family at a popular ski resort in Whistler, Canada, between December 2012 and January 2013.

“Subsequently, after I left employment at 1MDB, I met and became acquainted with him (Riza Shahriz) on other occasions when I travelled overseas with Jho Low,” she said in her witness statement.

Loo stated that she believed Low and Riza Shahriz were “good friends”.

Loo was testifying as the plaintiff’s witness in a lawsuit filed by 1MDB against Riza Shahriz and his two companies, Red Granite Pictures Inc and Red Granite Capital Ltd, for misappropriation of 1MDB’s funds here on Friday.

Based on Loo’s witness statement, she stated that she was not aware of a US$700mil transfer from 1MDB to Good Star Ltd, a company linked to Low, as a purported repayment of an advance.

Whilst still at 1MDB, Loo said she was not aware of the existence of a bank account at City National Bank in Los Angeles nor was she aware of a US$10mil transfer into the said account.

The account was designated as the operating account for Red Granite Pictures.

During cross-examination, lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin, who represented Riza Shahriz, suggested that Loo had attempted to portray the first defendant as Low’s close friend in her testimony.

Loo replied that this was based on her personal observation.

Wan Azwan: So you formed that assumption based on your testimony that you met the first defendant during a ski trip in Canada. Is that your benchmark of a close friend?

Loo: I was giving an example.

Wan Azwan: You were there on the ski trip as well. Would that not make you a good friend of Jho Low too?

Loo: I am not denying that.

Wan Azwan suggested that Loo was the only one out of 1MDB to have been invited to Whistler, a “dazzling place” which she had never been to before.

Wan Azwan: You were the only one from 1MDB who got this experience. To get this experience of a whole new world. Isn’t that right?

Loo: Like I said, I’ve been on other trips with him.

Wan Azwan: But Whistler is a whole new world to you.

Loo: Yes.

On May 7, 2021, 1MDB and three of its subsidiaries, namely 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, 1MDB Energy Limited, and 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited, sued Riza Shahriz and his two companies for allegedly receiving around US$248mil in funds that they misused for their personal gain, including financing a film and purchasing various properties.

1MDB, as the plaintiff, also stated that the defendants had knowingly received funds in circumstances where the funds had been misappropriated from 1MDB and dishonestly assisted in the breaches of fiduciary duty and/or breaches of trust by Low.

The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that Riza Shahriz is responsible for the misappropriated funds and demand repayment.

In a statement of defence filed on Oct 25, 2021, Riza Shahriz and his two companies claimed to have obtained a loan from the Saudi royal family or the International Petroleum Investment Company to produce several films in the United States.

The hearing resumes before Judicial Commissioner Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan on Monday (Oct 28).