The former Treasury secretary-general tells court he lost his reputation and credibility as a result of being slapped with the lawsuit by 1MDB.
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah told the High Court today that 1MDB had filed a suit against him because the current management wanted to blame someone apart from ex-prime minister Najib Razak. Irwan, who was 1MDB ’s chairman between May 2016 and May 2018, said he was an easy target as he was then a senior high-ranking civil servant in the finance ministry.
Testifying in his defence to the 1MDB suit, he said the company wanted to sensationalise its case by falsely alleging that he had colluded with Najib in failing to investigate those who had siphoned funds from the state investor. However, for reasons best known to 1MDB, he said the company withdrew the action against the then directors Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Ismee Ismail, Ong Gim Huat, Ashvin Jethanand Valiram, Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Hazem Abd Rahman and former chief financial officer Azmi Tahir.
“As a result of this action filed against me, I lost my reputation and my credibility has been tarnished.“It is now very difficult for me to continue holding certain directorships as people are sceptical and wary of the allegations that have been made against me,” he added. 1MDB also alleged that the pair committed breach of trust and conspiracy by misappropriating US$3.5 billion in company funds paid to Aabar Investments and US$1.265 billion paid to the International Petroleum Investment Company on May 9, 2017.
Arul’s defence is that he left it to the police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the national audit department and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to investigate wrongdoings in the company.
Arul-Kanda Bad-Faith Counterclaim Credibility Defence Irwan-Serigar-Abdullah Najib-Razak Reputation Scapegoat
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