“I had a feeling that he was involved” – Ex 1MDB Chairman Says That Najib Ignored His Text About Scandal

Several court cases relating to the involvement of certain individuals in the misappropriation of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund has revealed a few interesting findings.

This revelations included the amount of money allegedly deposited into personal bank accounts as well as the amount of money spent using money from the funds.

Recently, former chairman of 1MDB Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh who resigned as in 2009 as a sign of protest said that he had suspicions that something wrong was going on at the company.

According to Utusan, yesterday (9 May), Bakke testified as the 15th prosecution witness in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s trial over the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds.

During the proceedings, Bakke revealed that he suspected that Najib was involved in 1MDB affairs and that either Najib or Jho Low had instructed for US$700 million (RM3.06 billion) out of US$1 billion (RM4.37 billion) to be transferred out without the 1MDB board’s knowledge or agreement.

He explained that he had personally prepared an official letter dated October 19, 2009 to inform Najib of his resignation as 1MDB chairman due to the refusal of the 1MDB management to follow the board’s instructions, and that no one had instructed him to resign.

“As a chairman, I resigned as a sign of protest and I did not want to be involved in any discussions and decisions regarding 1MDB.”

However, before sending in his resignation letter, Bakke said that he had first sent a text message to Najib to inform him of the 1MDB management’s failure to follow the 1MDB board’s instructions on several matters relating to a joint venture deal involving US$1 billion (RM4.37 billion) of 1MDB funds, but that Najib did not reply.

“I did not receive any response from Najib. It did not cross my mind to report to any relevant authorities on the financial misconduct of the management of 1MDB because I assumed that I had already done so through my SMS sent to Najib,” he added.

“I hoped Najib will take necessary actions against the management of 1MDB if he found any misconduct on their part,” said Bakke.

“Since my concerns did not get Najib’s attention as he did not reply my SMS, I had a feeling that he was involved and something wrong was happening without my knowledge.

Bakke said that this was one of his main reasons which led him to decide to resign as Chairman and a member of 1MBD’s board of directors.

He then said that this was not the first time he had sent an SMS to Najib and that Najib would usually respond to his text messages hence, why he found it unusual when Najib did not respond that time.

What do you think of this? Let us know in the comments.

Also read: Federal Court Denies Claims That Chief Justice Agreed to Expedite Najib’s & Zahid’s Court Cases