The Malaysian Insight

GOVERNMENT auditor Nor Salwani Muhammad took centre stage at former prime minister Najib Razak’s trial last week, after prosecutors played to the court a damning audio recording of top officials working to remove portions of the original 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) audit report.

Salwani, a National Audit Department director, had made the recording of a February 24, 2016 meeting without anyone’s knowledge by placing a device in a colleague’s pencil case, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard.

During examination-in-chief, led by senior deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram, 52-year-old Salwani said she was shocked by what had transpired during the meeting.

Salwani: As soon as Saadatul Nafisah (audit department officer) left the meeting, I took the device from her pencil case. I turned it off and went back to my office with my audit team, and we met the other members. We listened to the recording to know what actually happened at the meeting.

Listening to the recording, we were shocked at what happened. I later copied the audio to the department’s official hard disk.

Sri Ram: Why were you shocked?

Salwani: We were shocked at what happened. What was reported in the Auditor-General’s Report… there were requests for them to be taken out. There were requests that they not be mentioned in the report.

Salwani denied she was doing anything sinister by recording the meeting and claimed she has done so in previous meetings.

“It is regarding our audit. I am the co-coordinator, and I should take down the minutes.”

The February 24 meeting, however, was “abnormal”, she added. 

Nine officials were present at the meeting – chief secretary Arul Kanda Kandasamy, then auditor-general Ambrin Buang, then chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa, Ali’s senior private secretary Norazman Ayub, Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad, Attorney-General’s Chambers representative Dzulkifli Ahmad, Treasury representatives Mohamad Isa Hussain and Asri Hamdin, and Najib’s principal private secretary Shukry Mohd Salleh.

Salwani was not invited to attend the meeting.

The meeting agreed on a suggestion by Ali to destroy all remaining copies of the original 1MDB audit report.

Despite the order, Salwani told the court she secretly kept one copy.

She said it was “purely” for the intention for keeping the auditor-general informed.

The copy, watermarked “09” and the audio recording were handed over to investigators later.

Notable during the meeting was the presence of Dzulkifli, who was later appointed Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commissioner chief.

At the meeting, where he acted as a representative from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Dzulkifli was heard providing feedback to remove portions of the 1MDB audit report before it was presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The court also heard testimony from Ali, who said Najib removed former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail as he had “lost trust” in him.

Gani served as attorney-general from January 1, 2002 to July 27, 2015.

It was Ali who announced that Gani’s tenure was discontinued due to health reasons.

Gani was heading the multi-agency task force investigating the 1MDB scandal.

He was replaced by Mohamed Apandi Ali.

Najib is accused of using his position to remove parts of the final 1MDB audit report between February 22 and 26, 2016 at the Prime Minister’s Department before it was tabled to PAC, to protect himself from criminal action.

Former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy is on trial for abetting Najib.

The trial, before judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, continues on Wednesday. – November 24, 2019.