Najib and family invited by princes for yacht holidays, ex-aide tells court

The Kuala Lumpur High Court was told yesterday that Najib Razak and his family had holidays on board several yachts in southern France, Greece and Italy from 2009 to 2013 at the invitation of the princes of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Najib’s former special officer, Wan Ahmad Shihab Wan Ismail, 48, said the information on the holiday destinations came from fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.

The 16th prosecution witness said that in August 2009, he was contacted by Jho Low and informed that Najib and his family would be having a holiday in southern France at the invitation of a Kuwaiti prince and a his friend, Syeikh Hamed, on board their yacht, the RM Elegance.

Wan Ahmad Shihab said Jho Low also gave him the telephone number of a man named Mr Sahle to make the holiday arrangements.

He later confirmed the matter with Najib before contacting Mr Sahle to provide information on the holiday including the list of names of the group, holiday duration and other requirements.

“Joining the holiday were Rosmah Mansor, her children Nor Ashman, Nooryana Najwa and Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz. Apart from that, some friends of Najib also joined including Bustari Yusuf and one of his children.

“The entire holiday entourage was about 20 people including bodyguards, maids and household staff,” he said, reading out his witness statement during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib.

Wan Ahmad Shihab said on the second or third day of sailing, Najib informed him that a Saudi prince on another yacht nearby was inviting the former prime minister and his family for an evening drink on board his boat.

“I later informed Mr Sahle to provide a small boat (tender) for us to go to the Saudi prince’s yacht. As far as I remember, the Saudi prince was Prince Turki.

“On arrival at the yacht, we were greeted by Prince Turki and a man who identified himself as Tarek Obaid,” he said, adding that he did not know the purpose of the meeting. When he entered the reception area of the boat, he added, he found that Jho Low was with them.

On the second holiday in the waters of Greece and Italy in mid-2010, Wan Ahmad Shihab said Jho Low told him that a Saudi prince had invited Najib and his family for a vacation on his boat before giving him the telephone number of the boat captain” Mike Hitch.

“The group comprised 17 people including Najib, Rosmah, Riza Shahriz, Nooryana Najwa, Nor Ashman, myself, escort officers and household staff as well as a friend of Najib. Upon arrival in Athens, Greece, we were received by Mike Hitch and brought to the Golden Odyssey yacht.

“Upon arrival at the boat, I found Bustari and several acquaintances of Najib there. They were present as members of the holiday entourage but they took commercial flights by themselves and arrived on their own one day earlier,” he said.

The witness said on the fifth day of sailing on the Golden Odyssey, he was contacted via SMS by a woman, Natasha, who was a friend of Rosmah, and asked about the location of the boat and if they had arrived in Rome as she was bringing several guests to meet Rosmah.

“I told Natasha via email the location where the yacht would be anchoring in Rome and I gave the number to Hitch for him to contact directly. A day later, after the boat anchored in Rome, I saw Natasha on the boat with Rosmah.

“I did not pay any attention to her as I did not interfere in Rosmah’s matters. At the end of the visit, I returned to Malaysia earlier on a commercial flight from Cote D’azur Airport, Nice, France, as I had some personal matters to attend to,” he said.

On the holiday in 2013, Wan Ahmad Shihab said Najib and his family were invited for a vacation in southern France on board the Topaz, owned by Sheikh Mansour, a prince from Abu Dhabi. Also seen were Mohamed Badawy Al-Husseiny, a director of Aabar Investments PJS with Robert Baker, a professional golf trainer, he said.

Wan Ahmad Shihab said that night, a man named Robert Shepherd announced that he was preparing to receive Riza at the Topaz and that when Riza arrived on the Topaz, he found Jho Low and Joey McFarland, the producer of “Wolf Of Wall Street”, with Riza.

“I did not know the purpose of Jho Low and McFarland’s presence but I assumed their presence was to holiday together. When Jho Low and McFarland were on board the boat, I always saw them together and heard their conversation focused on making a Hollywood movie,” he said.

Wan Ahmad Shihab said no payment was made for accommodation on the three vacations as Najib and his family had gone on invitation.

Najib, 68, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues today.