KUALA LUMPUR – A bank officer told the high court here today that the bank she worked for found no sanctions against the US$110 million (RM483.5 million) transfer from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to oil and gas company Petrosaudi International Ltd (PSI) on May 2011.
The assistant vice-president of global market operations at Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, Fatehah Md Salleh, 39, said that on May 27, 2011, they received documents from the front office of the global markets division regarding foreign exchange instructions for 1MDB.
The 22nd prosecution witness said the instruction was to forward US$110 million of 1MDB funds via Deutsche Bank Trust Company America to JP Morgan Chase New York, to be eventually credited to RBS Coutts Bank Ltd account number 11116073.2000.
The account is allegedly owned by PSI, according to a letter signed by 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
“We then conducted a background check on the owner of the account using the Preventive Crime Research (PCR) System and the HotScan system on PSI and RBS Coutts, which revealed there were no sanctions against conducting the fund transfer to the company,” she said.
During the cross-examination by counsel Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed, who is representing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the witness confirmed that the PCR system was the bank’s internal verification system to detect any red flags on an account.
In a previous proceeding, the court was told that the account 11116073 was owned by Good Star Ltd, a company that was initially said to be a PSI subsidiary but later was exposed as a company linked to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.
Meanwhile, Nur Hasnee Taha Md Nordin, the vice-president of global market operations at the same bank, said RM3.487 billion was transferred by 1MDB to Deutsche Bank through five transactions on September 30, 2009.
The 21st prosecution witness said the money was transferred by 1MDB for foreign exchange transaction purposes to buy US$1 billion, and US$700 million was then transferred to RBS Coutts and the remaining US$300 million was deposited into JP Morgan’s account as instructed by 1MDB.
Nur Hasnee also confirmed the transaction from 1MDB to Deutsche Bank on May 27, 2011 with a total of RM335.115 million transferred from the AmBank account owned by 1MDB, for the purpose of foreign exchange transactions to purchase US dollars worth US$110 million.
He said the funds were then transferred to the JP Morgan Chase New York account and then to the RBS Coutts account to be credited into the account with the number 11116073 as instructed by 1MDB to Deutsche Bank.
Najib, 68, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes worth RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial in front of Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah will continue June 13. – Bernama, June 9, 2022
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