KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 21): Over £8.7 million (RM45,825,918.13) originating from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) was transferred to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s private AmBank accounts in 2014 by an associate of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).
At the 1MDB-Tanore trial on Thursday, the prosecution’s 47th witness, Bank Negara Malaysia analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan, testified about how this particular amount of money ended up in Najib’s account.
He said the £8.7 million was transferred by Vista Equity International Partners Ltd (Barbados) across four tranches in the two months between Oct 17 and Dec 17, 2014.
Vista Equity is a company owned and controlled by fugitive Eric Tan Kim Loong, a close associate of Jho Low.
Adam, who was testifying before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, showed bank statements and records of Najib’s 880 AmPrivate-Banking-1MY account on the transaction.
The funds originated from two loans by 1MDB’s subsidiary 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd (1MEHL) totalling US$1.225 billion from Deutsche Bank Singapore, which Najib approved.
Aside from Najib, funds from 1MEHL were also siphoned to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (Aabar-Seychelles) — a shell company named after a subsidiary of International Petroleum International Co (IPIC), which 1MDB had dealings with.
One of 1MEHL’s loans totalling US$975 million was made available on Sept 1, 2014. On Sept 2, 1MEHL made a utilisation request to Deutsche Bank AG (Hong Kong branch) to draw down US$500 million and to pay US$223.333 million to Aabar-Seychelles’s account.
On Sept 29, 2014, 1MEHL made another utilisation request to draw down the remaining US$475 million on Sept 30 and to pay more than US$457 million to the same Aabar-Seychelles’ account.
In total, Aabar-Seychelles received more than US$681 million from 1MEHL in two tranches on Sept 3 and Sept 30, 2014.
Aabar-Seychelles then transferred a sum of US$226 million — in four tranches — to Aabar International Investments PJS Ltd's (another fake Aabar shell company) account at Amicorp, Barbados between Oct 16 and Nov 17, 2014. Aabar-Seychelles' bank statements and records also reflect this.
Upon the receipt of these funds, Aabar International immediately transferred almost identical amounts of funds to Vista Equity’s account in the same bank.
It is from here that the £8.7 million was transferred into Najib’s account at AmBank in five tranches between Oct 23 and Dec 19, 2014.
Adam had previously testified that Najib had received a total of RM2.28 billion in his private accounts originating from 1MDB funds.
Aside from the £8.7 million, Adam said Najib had received RM60.6 million from a “Prince Faisal” from Saudi Arabia in 2011.
In 2012, the former PM received approximately RM90 million from Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners (another Jho Low-controlled company).
Another US$681 million (RM2 billion) had come into his account in 2013 from Tanore Finance Corp (owned by Tan), while RM4 million was banked into Najib’s account via Blackrock Commodities (Global) Ltd.
According to the prosecution’s opening statement at the beginning of the trial in 2019, the then lead prosecutor, the late Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, contended that Najib received this £8.7 million plus the RM4 million as part of the final phase of four phases.
This fourth phase involved 1MDB options that were given as part consideration to IPIC for the notes that raised US$3.5 billion, forming part of the funds raised in 2012 for a 1MDB-IPIC joint venture exercise.
Sri Ram’s opening statement is corroborated by Adam’s testimony based on a 76-page report of 1MDB's money transactions which ended up in Najib’s accounts.
For receiving the money, Najib is facing four counts of abuse of power for using his position as prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB board of advisers' chairman to receive gratification worth RM2.28 billion.
Najib also faces 21 counts of money laundering involving over RM4.3 billion.
The Edge is covering the trial live here.
Users of The Edge Markets app may tap here to access the live report.
Read also:
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Najib received US$30m from 1MDB funds in 2012, says BNM analyst
1MDB-Tanore trial: ‘Prince Faisal’ transferred US$20m of Good Star funds to Najib, says witness