KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court heard that the appointment of a former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) company secretary was approved by the board of directors and had nothing to do with fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.

       Prosecution witness Lim Poh Seng, 51, testified in the RM2.28bil 1MDB trial involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak that his appointment was made collectively by the board and not by an individual.

       Lim, however, admitted to knowing Low before he (Lim) joined 1MDB.

       During cross-examination by defence lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed, Lim said that Low had approached him “to render some corporate services work to some companies he (Low) recommended”.

       Lim said he could not remember the year when he crossed paths with Low nor the companies Low recommended to him.

       Wan Aizuddin: Was this engagement by Jho Low before or after your services with Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA)?

       Lim: It would be before the TIA.

       Wan Aizuddin: You were acquainted with Jho Low even before you were involved in TIA?

       Lim: Yes.

       (TIA was originally a state investment fund that later became 1MDB).

       In his witness statement, Lim said his appointment as the company secretary was done and resolved through the company’s Directors’ Circular Resolution (DCR).

       “I also attended several TIA meetings as requested by Jho Low as he was the one who organised and conducted those meetings,” he said in the witness statement.

       The court also heard from another former 1MDB company secretary, who succeeded Lim, that she was not an aunt to Low.

       “I am not Jho Low’s aunt. I am not related to him,” said Goh Gaik Kim to a question by Wan Aizuddin.

       Goh said she had only seen Low from afar during lunch with one of 1MDB’s directors and former chief operating officer, Radhi Mohamad.

       Goh said, at the time she did not know who Low was, but Radhi recognised him (Low) and went over to him.

       When asked whether she was informed by the 1MDB management on Low’s role in 1MDB, Goh said she only found out from the news.

       In June 2019, then finance minister Lim Guan Eng reportedly told a news outlet that Low was not a nephew of Goh’s, the company secretary of TRX City Sdn Bhd.

       This was following a claim from an online news portal that alleged Goh is the younger sister of Low’s mother, Puan Sri Goh Gaik Ewe.

       It was also reported that Low had issued a separate statement through his lawyers to deny the alleged family ties.

       Najib is on trial for 25 charges in total – four for abuse of power that allegedly brought him the financial benefit of RM2.28bil, and 21 for money laundering involving the same amount of money.

       The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on May 17.