Najib received over £9mil from 2 foreign entities, court told
Published on: Monday, June 20, 2022
By:
FMT, Ho Kit Yen
Najib is on trial over 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving funds amounting to RM2.28 billion that was deposited into his AmBank accounts. (Bernama pic)
Kuala Lumpur: The High Court was told today that more than £9 million was deposited into former prime minister Najib Razak’s private account in 2014.
AmBank officer Wedani Senen, who was then in charge of the bank’s remittance centre, said the money came from two foreign firms, Blackrock Commodities (Global) and Vista Equity International Partners.
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She added that the money was deposited into Najib’s account, ending with “880”, between June 23, 2014 to Dec 18, 2014.
In its opening statement, the prosecution had said Najib received the money between June 23, 2014 and Dec 19, 2014 and that it was initially meant to redeem a 49% share option that 1MDB had granted to Aabar Investment PJS.
Aabar had earlier assisted 1MDB Energy and 1MDB Energy (Langat) Sdn Bhd to obtain the bond guarantee from the International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic).
Wedani also told the court that a sum of US$620 million from Najib’s previous account, ending with “694”, was transferred back to Tanore Finance Corporation.
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She previously told the court that a total of US$669.8 million comprising funds from Tanore, Prince Faisal Turki Al Saud, and Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners was deposited into Najib’s account ending with “694” from 2011 to 2013.
When asked by Najib’s lawyer, Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohamed, whether she filed any suspicious transaction reports (STRs) over the transactions in Najib’s accounts, Wedani said it was the duty of another department, known as the Swift Department, to do so.
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She added that her duty was only to process the transactions.
To another question on how she knew the private banking accounts belonged to Najib, Wedani said a slip was printed out from her computer that bore the customer’s name when she credited funds into his accounts in 2011.
Wan Aizuddin: It did not display “Amprivate-1MY”?
Wedani: This (display) was after 2012.
Najib is on trial over 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving funds amounting to RM2.28 billion that was deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow, with the prosecution set to call two Deutsche Bank Malaysia officers as witnesses.
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