Datuk Seri Najib Razak is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court May 9, 2022. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and their family went on several holiday trips on yachts purportedly owned by and on the alleged invitation of princes from Middle East countries in the France, Greece and Italy waters, Najib’s former aide told the High Court today.
Datuk Wan Ahmad Shihab Wan Ismail, who formerly served as special officer to Najib when the latter was prime minister, confirmed it was now-fugitive Low Taek Jho who had informed him of the invitations for holidays for Najib and his family.
Wan Ahmad Shihab, 48, said this while testifying as the 16th prosecution witness in Najib’s trial over the misappropriation of more than RM2 billion of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.
Wan Ahmad Shihab confirmed that he was also the one who had taken a group photo of Najib and family on one of the yachts.
Wan Shihab said he had first known about Low — better known as Jho Low — during Najib’s work visit to Washington DC in the US at around 2007 or 2008, and that Najib’s son Nor Ashman was part of this work delegation that was staying at the Four Seasons Hotel there.
Wan Shihab said he and Nor Ashman had gone down to the hotel lobby and bumped into Low who was seated with several unknown individuals at the sofa there, and that Nor Ashman had greeted Low after seeing him.
“I was told by Ashman that man is Jho Low and he is the elder brother of Datuk Seri Najib’s family friend namely Taek Szen. But I did not communicate with Jho Low at that time and only saw him from afar. That is the first time I saw Jho Low,” he said.
Later after Najib had become prime minister in 2009, Wan Shihab said he was contacted by Jho Low on three separate occasions from 2009 to 2013 to inform that Najib and his family had been invited to holiday on the yachts in Europe, and that Najib had later confirmed the information given by Low before Wan Shihab started making arrangements for the holidays.
For these trips, Wan Shihab confirmed that Najib, Rosmah and their family had flown using a government-owned aircraft before going to the yachts.
The yacht trips in France, Greece, Italy
For the first trip, Wan Shihab said Low had contacted him in August 2009 to introduce himself, adding that Low had said that a Kuwait prince had invited Najib and the family to holiday in southern France on a yacht known as “RM Elegance” allegedly owned by the prince and the prince’s friend Syeikh Hamed.
After Low had given the contact details of a person named Mr Sahle for the holiday arrangements and having confirmed the matter with Najib, Wan Shihab said he then made the arrangements for the entourage of about 20 persons including Najib, Rosmah, their children Nor Ashman, Nooryana Najwa and Riza Aziz, Najib’s friend Tan Sri Bustari Yusuf and one of Bustari’s children, officers, maids and household staff.
“As far as I know, no charges for accommodation were imposed throughout the holiday on the RM Elegance yacht as Datuk Seri Najib and his family were holidaying on the invitation of that Kuwait prince,” Wan Shihab said.
This trip involved the entourage’s flight using the government aircraft from Kuala Lumpur to London before departing to the Cote D’Azur airport in Nice, France on August 15, 2009, where they were then brought to the yacht where the Kuwait prince and Syeikh Hamed were waiting and with the duo appearing to have a good relationship with Najib.
Initially only touring southern France on the yacht, Wan Shihab said that Najib had told him on either the second or third day that a Saudi prince named Prince Turki on another nearby yacht had invited Najib and his family for tea, adding that he had arranged for the visit via a tendered boat to go on to Prince Turki’s yacht.
Najib’s entourage was greeted by Prince Turki and Tarek Obaid on that yacht, with Najib and his family invited to enter the yacht’s living room while Wan Shihab and other officers waited outside on the deck.
Wan Shihab said he did not know what the purpose of this meeting was and whether Najib and his family had already known Prince Turki and Tarek, adding that he was then subsequently asked by Najib to help take their photographs in the yacht’s living room.
“When I entered the living room, I saw that Jho Low was already among them. This means that Jho Low was on that yacht before we arrived. I did not care much about Jho Low’s presence and took their photos as instructed by Datuk Seri Najib as a memory of that meeting,” he said.
Wan Shihab said that Low had in mid-2010 contacted him via the BBM messaging service to say that Najib and his family were invited to have a holiday on a yacht purportedly owned by a Saudi prince in the waters of Greece and Italy, but said he could not remember the name of this prince.
For this trip on the Golden Odyssey yacht, Wan Shihab said Najib and his family and their holiday entourage had taken a flight from Kuala Lumpur on a government-owned aircraft on July 28, 2010 and arrived at Athens, Greece on July 29, 2010, before being brought to the yacht.
Najib, Rosmah, their children Nor Ashman, Nooryana Najwa and Riza Aziz, Wan Shihab, other officers, household staff and a friend of Najib were in this entourage numbering around 17 persons, while Bustari and several of Najib’s acquaintances were already on that yacht as they had arrived one day earlier on their own flights using commercial aircraft.
In 2013, Wan Shihab said Low had again contacted him through BBM and again said that Najib and his family had been invited to holiday in southern France on a yacht known as “Topaz” owned by a Sheikh Mansour who was purported to be a prince from Abu Dhabi.
Having received confirmation from Najib about the trip, Wan Shihab said he had then made the arrangements for the holiday trip, with the entourage for this trip involving around 25 persons.
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