KUALA LUMPUR: The former chairman of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) today gave an insight on the events which led to the company being ripped off to the tune of billions, Datuk Seri Najib Razak's role in it all and how he eventually resigned from the company in protest.
Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh said prior to resigning, he sent an SMS to Najib detailing the mismanagement at 1MDB but the latter never bothered to respond.
The 68-year old corporate figure who is now Petronas chairman, said he informed Najib how the 1MDB management was ignoring instructions from the board but he never received any response from the then prime minister.
Bakke said it did not cross his mind to report to any relevant authorities on the financial misconduct of the management of1MDB because the matter had already been brought to Najib's attention.
"I hoped Najib would take necessary actions against the management of 1MDB if he found any misconduct on their part.
"Since my concerns did not get Najib's attention, I had a feeling that he was involved and something wrong was happening without my knowledge.
"This was one of my main reasons I decided to resign as chairman and a member of 1MBD's board of directors," he said.
Bakke said he resigned in October 2009 as a sign of protest and did not want to be involved in any further discussions and decisions regarding 1MDB.
He added that he decided not to hand in his resignation to Najib personally but instructed his secretary to deliver the letter to the prime minister's office instead.
"I did this because if I were to send it myself, he would probably convince me to stay.
"I did not announce my resignation at that time to maintain Najib's reputation."
Bakke said another 1MDB director, Tan Sri Azlan Zainol, had also decided to resign at that time but they agreed that he would only do so slightly later so as not to offend or embarrass Najib. Azlan, he said, eventually resigned on Jan 11, 2010.
Bakke was testifying in Najib's 1MDB trial where the Pekan Member of Parliament is accused of misappropriating RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds.
Earlier, Bakke said his involvement in 1MDB could be traced back to the time it was known as the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) and he was offered to join the company's board of directors by Low Taek Jho @ Jho Low.
Bakke said he knew Jho Low from the time he was with Felda Holdings Berhad in 2007 or 2008.
"I knew him as a businessman who brought a business proposal to Felda Holdings Berhad but it was not executed.
"I also occasionally met Jho Low at Najib's office at the Ministry of Defence and the office of the Deputy Prime Minister at Putrajaya between 2008 and early 2009.
"However, I did not know the nature of the meetings Jho Low had with Najib at that time," he said, adding he later joined the 1MDB board after Jho Low contacted him again sometime in early August 2009.
Touching on the mismanagement in 1MDB, Bakke revealed how the 1MDB board had unanimously agreed with a joint venture proposal with PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) after receiving instructions from Najib.
However, he said the management later failed to obey specific instructions on how 1MDB's investment of US$1 billion was supposed to be utilised.
He said the board eventually instructed the managing director of 1MDB, Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, to explain but he never gave any satisfactory answers.
Bakke said this caused anger and dissatisfaction among the board members, following which he suggested they all resign and all the board members nodded in agreement.
"I met Shahrol after the 1MDB embezzlement issue arose in early 2015.
"He told me he got the mandate from Najib to transfer those (1MDB) funds. However, he did not show me any documents in support of what he told me," he said.
Bakke said issues which led to his resignation included the transfer of US$1 billion without the board's approval, failure to conduct due diligence on the PSI joint venture, failure to appoint anindependent valuer to get accurate and reliable information on the value of the joint venture company's assets and failure in the appointment of three representatives in the joint venture company.
Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah will cross examine Bakke at a later date.
The trial before High Court Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.