KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): Former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu told the court on Thursday (Dec 15) that it might have been her own perception that she was not to approach Datuk Seri Najib Razak when she was handling his personal accounts with the bank as he was the prime minister at the time.

She was answering questions from defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who was asking her about Najib's AmPrivate Islamic accounts with the bank during the 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial, so-named because it involved 1MDB's dealings with Tanore Finance Corp, a company the prosecution contends is linked to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), and through which 1MDB's money had been allegedly siphoned into Najib's accounts.

Yu said it was her perception that “protocol-wise” only AmBank’s then managing director Cheah Tek Kuang and Jho Low had access to Najib.

"Protocol-wise, I was told he was the PM... protocol-wise, we don't deal directly with the PM," she said.

Below is an excerpt of Yu and Muhammad Shafee's exchange:

Muhammad Shafee: Who told you this?
Yu: Cheah and Jho Low, they would meet the PM, not people like us.

Muhammad Shafee: Who told you this frightening story about the PM? That protocol-wise, [you] can't meet the PM...?
Yu: It's perhaps my own perception.

Muhammad Shafee: No one told you this?
Yu: I thought the PM of Malaysia won't have time to meet me.

Yu then said she had never tried to contact Najib.

During Wednesday's proceedings, Muhammad Shafee wanted Yu to identify several letters that have been described as 'Arab donation letters' to prove that the monies that went into Najib's private accounts were just that — donations — so that they could be admitted as evidence. This was objected to by the prosecution.

The letters, addressed to Najib, were from the former governor of Madinah Province, Saud Abdulaziz Majid Al Saud, and dated between 2011 and 2014. They stated, among others, that the donations to Najib was a gesture of "good faith" and was a gift for the work he had done in governing Malaysia, in line with Islamic principles.

During Thursday's submissions, senior public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram argued that the defence's attempt to admit the letters was "an exercise in futility", as the court was bound by the findings made in Najib's SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

"The High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court have given no weight, given zero weight, to those letters.... If it were to be put as defence (evidence), we say it will come to nothing," the former Federal Court judge said.

He also argued that the prosecution would, at the end of its case, submit that the letters have been found to be a fabrication.

If the trial judge was leaning towards admitting the letters, then it should be marked only as documents received by the bank, and not on its authenticity, he added.

The trial judge, he argued, can make a determination on its authenticity later at the end of the prosecution's case.

Citing case laws, Muhammad Shafee countered that the principle of estoppel — which prevents a person from contradicting what is implied by a previous action or by a previous pertinent judicial decision — does not apply when the accused is trying to maintain a defence.

"The prosecution is saying cut off their foot and knees so that they can't walk and they can't do the defence because these documents form one of the very basis of the defence..." Muhammad Shafee said.

"They are basically saying that the entire defence has been chopped off. [If that's the case,] my client might as well plead guilty," he added.

The letters were later admitted as evidence in the case, merely for the purpose of establishing that the documents exist and that the bank had received them. The veracity of the documents will be determined by the trial judge later.

Najib, 69, is on trial on four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds.

The trial before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah will continue on Jan 27.

The Edge is covering the trial live here.

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