Kuala Lumpur, June 8 — Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan said he believed then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had in 2010 put him in a compensated role on 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) board of advisers out of the "goodness” of the latter’s heart.

Sidek said he believed that Najib did so because of the former’s "low" civil servant’s salary, and not due to his position as chief secretary to the government at the time.

He said this on his second day of testimony as the 19th prosecution witness in Najib’s trial over the misappropriation of over RM2 billion of 1MDB funds.

Asked by lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to confirm that he said yesterday Najib offered for him to be on the 1MDB board of advisers due to his then role as chief secretary to the government, Sidek today clarified the move was to supplement his civil service pay.

"I thought the reason why the PM offered me, in all honesty, was because my salary — and I hate it because it appears in the papers again, My Lord, today — my salary, from what I said, the PM then thought it was a bit low for the responsibilities I had.

"I knew that because I joined Petronas after that,” Sidek told the High Court, also citing RM29,125 as his monthly pay as chief secretary to the government then.

"He thought it was a bit low and it should be compensated in other ways, so in the goodness of his heart — I thought that was the reason, this was just a vehicle to compensate for that lowness, so it’s not because I was KSN I was offered,” he added, referring to the chief secretary to the government role by its Malay initials.

Sidek had formerly served in the civil service for 38 years, and was the 12th chief secretary to the government from September 2006 until his retirement in June 2012.

Sidek yesterday said he had received RM30,000 as monthly advisory fee as member of 1MDB’s board of advisers from July 2010 until December 2012, which was subsequently reduced to RM10,000 per month from January 2013 until June 2015.

From July 2015 onwards, Sidek had stopped receiving any payments for the role. He was notified in May 2016 via a letter from Najib that the board of advisers was dissolved.

Sidek was Petronas chairman from July 1, 2012 until June 30, 2018.

Shafee then asked: "Let me clear the air first, that goodness of heart where he told you to be on the board of advisers, there’s nothing wrong with his idea of inviting you to be on the board, whatever was the motivation that he conveyed to you, there’s nothing wrong with it?”

"Yes,” Sidek then replied.

Shafee highlighted that the 1MDB board of advisers was created and governed through 1MDB’s memorandum and articles of association or the company’s constitution, which stated that this board of advisers is to have a minimum of four members and a maximum of eight members — including the prime minister as the chairman and the minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit as the deputy chairman.

Sidek agreed to Shafee’s suggestion that he fell under the category of "eminent persons appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the minister” to the 1MDB board of advisers and that it was governed by the 1MDB’s company constitution.

Sidek also confirmed today that the 1MDB board of advisers had never once functioned throughout his time as a member of the board and that not a single meeting was called for this board of advisers.

Shafee suggested that it is not the duty of the prime minister to call a meeting of the 1MDB board of advisers and that it is for the 1MDB board of directors to invoke a procedure to have the board of advisers meet if the directors needed advice, but Sidek said he was not aware of this.

Yesterday, Sidek said he was not involved in any meetings or discussions about 1MDB issues or about 1MDB investment matters even though he was appointed to the company’s board of advisers.

He told the court yesterday that 1MDB management had never reported to him on anything about the company’s operations nor was he ever asked to attend any meetings regarding 1MDB or any board of advisers’ meeting.

After his appointment as a member of 1MDB’s board of advisers, Sidek said both the management and board of directors had not given him any briefing or met with him after his appointment.

Najib’s 1MDB trial before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues this afternoon.

* This article previously contained a transposition error involving Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan’s stated salary, which has since been corrected.