KUALA LUMPUR – A former AmBank manager told the high court here today that it had seemed impossible anyone would use former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s AmIslamic Bank accounts for money laundering, given his stature as the nation’s top public servant.
Testifying against Najib in his main 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial, Joanna Yu said that Ambank and other relevant agencies were watching his personal accounts’ transactions, but did not raise any alarm on supposed illicit funds entering the accounts.
She said this when grilled during cross-examination by Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah this morning on whether she had failed to conduct due diligence on a series of transactions to Najib’s Ambank Islamic account ending with “880” and with the codename AmPrivate Banking-1MY.
These transactions, the trial heard, totalled RM49 million (US$15 million) between June and December 2014.
Yu recalled that besides a due diligence check by Wells Fargo, a correspondent bank for transactions involving US currency, that asked for the details of the account holder the money was being remitted to, no other party had contacted AmBank questioning the transactions.
She explained that the bank did not provide details to Wells Fargo to protect the account holder’s confidentiality.
Shafee had repeatedly grilled Yu on her alleged failure to check or verify with Najib personally on the origins of the funds and whether he had personal information that money would be transferred to his account.
Yu said she had often communicated with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, via Blackberry Messenger about transactions to Najib’s account. She added that she often took his word as a representation of the former Pekan MP’s instructions.
Shafee then questioned Yu whether she was aware that she had conducted an alleged offence under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla) by abetting with Low in his illicit activities.
Shafee: “Are you aware that you participated in an Amla offence (by helping Jho Low)?”
Yu: “It was my belief that I was protecting the confidentiality of the account holder. I was told by Low that we need to protect this as someone could misuse the PM’s name.”
Shafee: “So you believed Jho Low completely?”
Yu: “Yes.”
Shafee: “Now in hindsight, did you assist Jho Low in conducting an Amla offence?”
Yu: “It never occurred to me that anyone would use the PM’s account for money laundering. This was the PM’s account.”
Shafee: “But money didn't come from the PM, it came from outside sources.”
Yu: “Everyone was watching the account. This account was also known to the higher levels. It was the PM’s account.”
Shafee then asked whether protecting the account holder’s confidentiality would supersede her professional duty to report on money-laundering activities, to which Yu answered with a no.
Shafee then said that Yu would have protected Najib better and even addressed the whole 1MDB debacle much earlier if she had conducted proper due diligence rather than merely trusting Low.
In this case, Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position to get bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering.
The hearing before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues later today. – The Vibes, February 7, 2023
