1MDB trial: Witness repeatedly replies 'I don't remember' when asked about her statement

KUALA LUMPUR - A witness informed the High Court today that she could not remember several parts stated in her sworn testimony regarding a 1Malaysia Development Berhad (!MDB) officer she claimed communicated directly with the Prime Minister’s Office to avoid being queried by the Finance Ministry.

Former Finance Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Siti Zauyah Mohd Desa, 63, repeatedly replied ‘I don’t remember’ to several questioned posed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s counsel Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed in the 1MDB trial.

Following her repeated replies, Wan Aizuddin asked if the statement about the direct communication between the 1MDB officer and the Prime Minister’s Office was her own witness testimony, to which she replied, yes.

When Wan Aizuddin asked why she herself did not inform Najib about the direct communication problems between 1MDB and the Prime Minister’s Office, Siti Zauyah said she had reported directly to the Treasury secretary-general, Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.

She added that she could not remember if she told Mohd Irwan about the issue, and had felt odd when she received instructions from Mohd Irwan to expedite the issuance of the memorandum from the Finance Ministry about the establishment of a special purpose vehicle by 1MDB and Aabar Investment PJS as such a thing had never been done previously.

Siti Zauyah had said in her witness statement that the documents were ordered to be prepared urgently so that it could be tabled at the Cabinet meeting on Feb 20, 2013.

Najib, 69, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues. - BERNAMA