Sidek says got up to RM30,000 monthly to be on 1MDB advisory board that never met, believes Najib felt his chief sec’s pay too low

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan today said he believed then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak put him on the Finance Ministry-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) board of advisers as the latter felt his salary was too low, with the role initially providing an additional income of RM30,000 per month.

Sidek, who was chief secretary to the government from September 2006 to June 2012, also said the 1MDB board of advisers never met throughout the years he had been on it.

He said this while testifying as the 19th prosecution witness in Najib’s trial over the misappropriation of more than RM2 billion of 1MDB funds.

Sidek confirmed that Najib had in an undated letter — which was forwarded to him by 1MDB via an August 30, 2010 letter — appointed him to be a member of 1MDB’s board of advisers with immediate effect and he was welcomed to attend the board of advisers’ annual meeting that was said would be chaired by the prime minister himself.

However, Sidek confirmed he was never invited to attend and did not attend any annual meetings, also saying he had never asked the prime minister or 1MDB for him to be appointed to that role.

Sidek said he was also 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, and said that 1MDB management had never reported to him on anything about the company’s operations and that both the management and board of directors had not given him any briefing or met with him after his appointment.

Sidek said he had never asked Najib why the 1MDB board of advisers did not hold any meetings throughout the time that he was a member of this advisory board, and said Najib as the prime minister had also not told him anything about any issues in 1MDB.

Sidek confirmed 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.

For both the monthly payments of RM30,000 and RM10,000 that were deposited into his bank account, Sidek said he had declared these to the Inland Revenue Board for tax purposes.

“I wish to state, when Datuk Seri Najib was the prime minister, he had asked me about the salary that I was receiving as the chief secretary to the government, and he felt my salary as chief secretary to the government is quite small.

“Therefore, I consider my appointment in 1MDB is only to increase my income as chief secretary to the government which was considered not commensurate by Datuk Seri Najib,” he told the High Court.

In the August 30, 2010 1MDB letter signed off by its then CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and which Sidek received on September 20, 2010, Sidek said he was informed he would receive a monthly advisory fee of RM30,000 starting from July 1, 2010.

After he had retired from public service on June 23, 2012, Sidek said he had received an October 23, 2012 letter from 1MDB signed by Shahrol to inform him that his service as a member of 1MDB’s board of advisers had been extended and that he would receive a monthly fee of RM10,000 starting from January 2013.

Sidek said he did not ask then prime minister Najib or 1MDB to continue his service as a member of 1MDB’s board of advisers and that he did not know why his service was extended after his June 2012 retirement as chief secretary to the government, adding that he was also not asked to attend any meetings regarding 1MDB or any board of advisers’ meetings.

When the RM10,000 monthly fees stopped coming in after the last payment in June 2015, Sidek said he no longer received any payment from 1MDB and that he did not ask 1MDB about the discontinuance in payments.

Sidek said he had received a May 31, 2016 letter signed by Najib informing him of the dissolution of the 1MDB board of advisers, and that this was sent to him with a June 2, 2016 cover letter by then 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy and which he received on June 3, 2016.

Sidek confirmed that Najib’s letter did not inform the reasons for the advisory board’s dissolution and that he did not know why it was dissolved, noting: “I also did not ask Datuk Seri Najib or 1MDB why this board of advisers was dissolved.”

Najib’s 1MDB trial before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes this afternoon, with Sidek expected to appear again tomorrow for cross-examination by Najib’s lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Shafee was present in the courtroom this morning for this trial.

A separate trial involving Najib’s alleged role in the amendments of the auditor-general’s audit report on 1MDB could not go on last week as Shafee had fallen ill and had subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.

When met by reporters later at the court complex after the end of this afternoon’ss proceedings, Shafee said he had been cleared of Covid-19 two days ago, with his MySejahtera app’s status back to showing the blue colour, or the low risk and no symptoms category.