Witness: Millions went through Ambank accounts linked to Najib
At least 10 transactions, ranging between RM5 million and RM40 million, went through the Ambank accounts of former premier Najib Abdul Razak, SRC International Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd.
Bank Negara investigation officer Azizul Adzani Abdul Ghafar revealed today that these transactions took place between Dec 24, 2014, and Feb 13, 2015...
At least 10 transactions, ranging between RM5 million and RM40 million, went through Ambank accounts linked to former premier Najib Abdul Razak, SRC International Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd.
Bank Negara investigation officer Azizul Adzani Abdul Ghafar revealed today that these transactions took place between Dec 24, 2014, and Feb 13, 2015.
Azizul said this during cross-examination by Najib's defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh, on the third day of the former premier's trial in relation to money laundering and corruption linked to RM42 million of SRC International funds.
Azizul, the prosecution’s second witness, testified that the transactions for deposits and withdrawals were reflected in documents seized from the Jalan Raja Chulan Ambank branch on July 6, 2015.
He added that the documents detailing these transactions were given to him by branch manager, R Uma Devi, without him asking for them.
Harvinderjit: Uma Devi, on her own volition, got you the additional bank documents of RM40 million, RM5 million, RM27 million, RM39.7 million and RM10 million (among others)?
Azizul: Correct.
Harvinderjit: This is unbelievable. After giving you the first batch of documents (in the morning of July 6, 2015), she came later (that same night) and gave you specific documents detailing the said transactions, and you never told her to get you these?
Azizul: Yes, I never asked her to.
Azizul said that on the morning of the raid, Uma Devi had handed him bank documents that listed, among others, the opening of bank accounts for Najib, SRC International and Gandingan Mentari.
However, the witness noted this batch of documents did not contain details of the transactions.
Uma Devi then handed him another batch of documents at 9.15pm the same day, Azizul said.
He told the court that he lodged a police report after the raid, as per standard procedure.
Asked by Harvinderjit whether any other investigation paper was opened in relation to the raid, Azizul said he did not know.
Affin bank accounts
When questioned by deputy public prosecutor Suhami Ibrahim, Bank Negara Financial Intelligence Department's Mohammad Nizam Yahya testified that he was given bank documents on Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd’s three current accounts at the Jalan Raja Chulan Affin Bank branch on July 6, 2015.
Nizam, the prosecution's third witness, said he received the documents during a raid on the bank conducted under Section 37 (1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds from Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFAPUAA).
He said he was handed account opening forms, specimen signature forms, a list of authorised signatories, customer due diligence forms for the three accounts, as well as statements related to the opening of said accounts.
Nizam added that he was handed the documents by Affin Bank chief legal officer and company secretary Nimma Safira Khalid after he had served notice on the bank at 10am. He said he was accompanied by two other Bank Negara officers.
The witness will be cross-examined by Najib's defence team when proceedings resume tomorrow morning at the Kuala Lumpur High Court before judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
The Wall Street Journal had previously published documents alleging that SRC International transferred RM40 million to its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari on Dec 24, 2014.
The funds were subsequently passed on to Ihsan Perdana – the corporate social responsibility arm of SRC International – on the same day.
A total of RM32 million from this amount allegedly found its way two days later into two Ambank accounts belonging to Najib, in two tranches of RM27 million and RM5 million each.
Both transactions were backed by an AffinBank remittance application form.
According to the form, the transfer to one of the Ambank accounts was for "CSR (corporate social responsibility) programmes."
The next round of transactions in 2015 followed the same pattern, with two tranches of RM5 million being allegedly transferred from SRC International on Feb 5 and Feb 6 respectively.
Both tranches of RM5 million were then purportedly transferred to Ihsan Perdana on the same day, before being transferred in a single transaction of RM10 million to Najib's account on Feb 10, 2015.
This was also backed by an Affin Bank remittance application form.
The "details of payment" were similarly listed as "funds transfer for CSR programmes."
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