KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here was told that almost US$15mil was deposited into the SRC International Sdn Bhd account from Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investment PJS (Ltd).
Bank Negara manager Azizul Adzani Abdul Ghafar, 41, confirmed the transaction took place on April 2, 2015, during a cross-examination by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh.
The lawyer was referring to a document that was seized from AmBank, Jalan Raja Chulan on July 6, 2015.
Harvinderjit: Referring to an account statement on page 65, on April 2, 2015, there was a transaction amounting to US$14,999,988 deposited by Aabar Investment?
The witness was testifying in Najib’s trial on seven charges involving SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42mil in funds.
Azizul also said that documents seized during a raid of the Ambank building on Jalan Raja Chulan back in 2015 showed millions of ringgit being transferred between accounts registered there.
Documents listed transactions ranging from RM5mil to RM40mil, which occurred between Dec 24, 2014, to Feb 5, 2015.
Azizul Adzani said the evidence obtained included four folders of documents related to the opening of Najib’s accounts, three more folders with documents for opening SRC International’s accounts and one folder to open an account for its subsidiary company Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd.
It also included transactions between the accounts including transfer confirmations, withdrawal slips and instruction letters.
Three of the accounts mentioned were the ones tied to Najib in the charges against him for receiving RM42mil in illegal funds on July 8, 2014.
Another witness testified that original documents pertaining to the bank account of Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd, a company linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), were handed over to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) almost three years after they were obtained.
Mohammad Nizam Yahya of Bank Negara said that he had kept the documents at a safe place in his department, the Financial Intelligence and Enforcement Department, since July 2015.
“As I remember, there were several representatives from a special task force that came to examine and make copies of the documents,” he said.
Mohammad Nizam, 39, is the third witness to take the stand.
DPP Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim conducted the examination-in-chief.
The witness told the court that he received an instruction from his department head on July 6, 2015.
“I was ordered to hand over a notice under Section 37(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001 to obtain banking documents related to an account belonging to Ihsan Perdana,” he said.
Ihsan Perdana is a company responsible for 1MDB corporate social responsibility programmes.
Mohammad Nizam said he and two other officers went to Affin Bank headquarters in Jalan Raja Chulan and passed the notice to a bank officer named Nimma Safira Khalid.
He said the task force representatives had copies of the documents while the originals were handed over to the MACC on June 22, 2018.
Najib faces seven charges involving RM42mil belonging to SRC International.
On July 4 last year, Najib claimed trial to a charge of abuse of power and three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) linked to the 1MDB scandal.
He allegedly misappropriated RM42mil in funds belonging to SRC International.
On Aug 8, 2018, he appeared in court again for the second time and was charged with three counts of money laundering involving the same RM42mil.
The trial continues before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali today.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/17/abu-dhabi-firm-put-us1...
