KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): Former BSI Singapore banker Kevin Swampillai told the High Court here on Thursday (July 27) that he would have stopped the layering of funds or transactions that led to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) money being funnelled into former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s accounts, had he known the source of the funds and its ultimate beneficiary.
Testifying at the 1MDB-Tanore trial as the 44th prosecution witness, Kevin was asked by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Mohamad Mustafa P Kunyalam about three separate transactions from 1MDB that went through layering, obscuring the source of the funds and its ultimate beneficiary.
Kevin said had the transactions been clearer or had the bank been in the know about the source of funds and the ultimate beneficiary, which was Najib, they would not have gone through with the transactions as Najib was a “politically exposed person” at that time.
“The prime minister at that time was a politically exposed person, having links to these transactions would be red flags that would have been too serious to ignore,” he added.
Najib is said to have received:
- RM60.63 million on Feb 24 and June 14, 2011;
- RM90.9 million on Oct 31 to Nov 12, 2012;
- RM49.93 million on June 23 and Dec 19, 2014;
- RM2.08 billion from Tanore Finance Corp to his bank account from March 22 to April 10, 2013.
Kevin, who was testifying before Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, said he was suspended from BSI in February 2016 and left the bank in August that year.
He added that he had never received any complaint from the board of 1MDB regarding the transactions throughout this time.
After his testimony, Kevin was released from the stand as a witness. Former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz was to take the stand after him.
Najib 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 Judge Sequerah continues.
The Edge is covering the trial live here.
Users of The Edge Markets app may tap here to access the live report.
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