KUALA LUMPUR: Jasmine Loo, the former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) general counsel, testified in the High Court that businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, instructed an aide to create a “donation letter” from an Arab royalty to justify money channeled into Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bank account.
Loo stated that she had viewed a draft of the letter on a computer screen at London’s Mayfair Hotel business center in early 2015 during a visit to meet Low.
She mentioned that when she arrived at the hotel, she saw Kee Kok Thiam, Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman, and Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia project director Dennis See.
“At that time, Shamsul inquired from Low about the funds in Najib’s account that were believed to come from 1MDB,” Loo affirmed.
“Jho Low then instructed Kee to prepare a ‘confirmation letter’ from ‘Prince Saud’ to state that the money in Najib’s account was a donation from Saudi Arabia,” she revealed during former Prime Minister Najib’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial in Malaysia.
Loo said she left the room with Low for another discussion and observed Kee preparing a draft of the “donation letter” from Prince Saud upon her return.
The witness expressed doubts about the letter’s authenticity as it was dated June 1, 2014, but she believed it was backdated.
“I am unsure of the donation amount. At the time, the draft lacked a signature, and I am uncertain when the letter was sent to Najib,” she added.
Loo also mentioned that she had no knowledge of any other Arab donation letters apart from the one she saw. Najib’s defense team had previously presented four letters during the 1MDB trial, claiming that the funds in Najib’s accounts were Saudi donations.
Kee, who was said to be a close associate of Low, was repatriated to Malaysia in May last year but died due to a sudden stroke on May 29, 2023.
