KUALA LUMPUR: The defence in 1MDB’s civil suit against Najib Razak today challenged a fraud investigator over his failure to fully probe the movement of US$620 million returned to a company.
Senior counsel Shafee Abdullah, representing the former prime minister, questioned Kroll Advisory Ltd investigations director Richard Templeman, 47, on whether he had investigated if the US$620 million returned to Tanore Finance Corporation from Najib’s AmBank account in 2013 was subsequently redirected and made its way back to Najib.
Templeman told the High Court that he had no knowledge of whether the funds had returned to Najib but maintained that he had investigated the relevant issues.
During cross-examination, Shafee highlighted that Najib had received US$681 million and returned US$620 million, representing the bulk of the funds, several months later.
Asked whether he knew if the US$620 million had later been redirected and eventually made its way back to Najib, Templeman said he had no knowledge of the matter.
Shafee: Do you not think that is a critical issue, given that you are acting as a fraud investigator?
Templeman: I believe I have investigated the relevant matters.
Shafee: But you did not investigate whether the US$620 million somehow went around and came back to Najib?
Templeman: No. I do not believe I have ever claimed that.
Transfer allegedly approved by Bank Negara
Shafee also questioned whether Templeman had investigated claims that the funds credited into Najib’s account had been approved by Bank Negara Malaysia. The investigator said the matter fell outside the scope of his investigation.
Shafee: Mr Templeman, you were investigating my client. My client has said the funds were transferred into his account with the approval of Bank Negara Malaysia, the relevant regulatory authority. Did you investigate that?
Templeman: I have not seen that document.
Shafee: Are you aware that neither Bank Negara Malaysia nor AmBank has ever requested the return of the funds credited into the account?
Templeman: I cannot comment on that.
Shafee: You cannot comment because you did not investigate it, correct?
Templeman: It did not form part of my investigation.
Shafee later suggested that Templeman had not investigated whether Najib was involved in any wrongdoing because he had been given a narrative to follow.
Templeman rejected the suggestion, saying: “That is not correct.”
Templeman appointed after suit filed
Shafee also pointed out that Templeman only began leading the investigation in July 2021, two months after 1MDB filed the civil suit, suggesting that he had been brought in to support an existing claim.
Shafee: Two months earlier, the claim had already been filed without the benefit of your investigation?
Templeman: Yes, that is correct.
Shafee: Did you find anything in the writ or statement of claim that was incorrect or required amendment after you began your investigation?
Templeman: I cannot recall.
Shafee: I put it to you that this shows you were called as a witness only to bolster a claim that had already been made.
Templeman: I cannot comment on that.
Earlier, in his witness statement, Templeman said that US$620 million and US$61 million were transferred from the Tanore account to Najib’s AmBank account on March 12 and March 25, 2013, respectively.
On Aug 26, 2013, however, US$620,010,715 of the US$681 million was transferred back to the Tanore account.
1MDB is seeking to recover about US$5.64 billion from Najib and several other individuals, alleging that the funds were misappropriated.
1MDB and four of its subsidiaries – 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, 1MDB Energy Ltd, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd and Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd – filed the suit on May 7, 2021.
The suit also names former 1MDB CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, former executive director of business development Casey Tang, former deputy chief financial officer Terence Geh, former chief investment officer Vincent Beng, former chief operating officer Radhi Mohamad, and former director of investments Kelvin Tan as defendants.
Counsel Lim Chee Wee leads 1MDB’s legal team.
The hearing before Judicial Commissioner Redzuan Idrus continues tomorrow.
