'Prince Faisal' transferred RM60m to Najib: Bank Negara analyst

1MDB TRIAL | A “Prince Faisal” of Saudi Arabia transferred US$20 million (RM60.6 million at the time) of 1MDB-linked funds to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2011, a Bank Negara analyst testified.

Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan told the Kuala Lumpur High Court this during the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against former finance minister Najib.

The 47th prosecution witness told deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar this afternoon that the transfer was effected in two tranches: US$10 million each on Feb 24, 2011 and June 14, 2011, respectively.

Adam told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that Najib’s “694 account” at AmBank received the monies from a Riyadh bank account under the names of “HRH Prince Faisal Turki Al-Saud” and “HRH Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al Saud”.

The money trail expert said the Riyadh account earlier in 2010 and 2011 received millions of ringgit from the account of Good Star Limited, a Seychelles-incorporated entity linked to fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).

“Based on the proximity between the dates that Good Star sent the funds to the Riyad Bank account and the dates the Riyad Bank account sent funds to the AmPrivate Banking–MR account (belonging to Najib), as well as the proximity of the value of funds sent to the Riyad Bank account and the value of funds it transferred to the AmPrivate Banking–MR account, it is reasonably believed that the Riyad Bank account was used as a pass-through account to transfer monies from Good Star, originated from the subject matter,” Adam said in reading out from the 76-page 1MDB Money Trail Report.

Previously, Adam testified that Najib received over RM2.28 billion of 1MDB proceeds over four phases from 2011 and 2014 and that US$700 million of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s monies - out of the fund’s US$1 billion intended for a joint venture with Petrosaudi International Limited (PSI) - was diverted to Good Star in 2009.

Adam also previously testified that Low opened a Swiss bank account for Good Star three months before the US$700 million was diverted to the Seychelles-incorporated entity.

In the prosecution’s opening statement at the beginning of the trial, prosecutors contended that from the original sum of US$700 million, sums of money were disbursed by Good Star to several persons, including one Prince Faisal.

The prosecution claimed that Prince Faisal received US$12.5 million from Good Star on Feb 18, 2011, and that he received a further sum of US$12 million from Good Star on June 10, 2011.

From these sums, prosecutors contended he transmitted US$20 million to Najib’s personal account in two tranches of US$10 million each, with the first tranche received by the accused on Feb 24, 2011, that is to say, six days after Faisal received the money.

Prosecutors contended that the accused received the second tranche on June 14, 2011, that is to say, four days after Faisal received the money, with the total amount from these two transfers being US$20 million equivalent of RM60.6 million.

Trial before Sequerah resumes tomorrow.

Najib’s charges

Najib is on trial over four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).

For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.

On the 21 money laundering counts, the accused is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.

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