Najib says wanted BNM and AmBank to monitor his accounts, to avoid anything 'untoward'

Thursday 24 Oct 2024

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 24): Imprisoned former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that he wanted the central bank and AmBank to monitor the flow of monies into his personal accounts, to ensure that everything was above board.

The 71-year-old said that he was aware that massive amounts of monies would be coming in from Saudi Arabia, and he wanted Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and his personal bank to be in the know.

"I wanted my accounts to be monitored closely by BNM to make sure that nothing untoward would happen. As a customer of the bank (AmBank), I would not have access to the source of funds, [That's why] I wanted AmBank and BNM [to monitor]," Najib told the court on Thursday.

Najib, who is testifying in his defence in SRC International Sdn Bhd’s civil suit against him, said that he had alerted former AmBank group managing director Cheah Tek Kuang of the fund inflow, and asked Cheah to inform former BNM governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

"I knew a substantial amount of money was coming in, so I alerted Cheah from AmBank, and I told him to take the [first] letter to inform Zeti," Najib said in reply to a query from his lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

When asked if he had personal knowledge that his bank had indeed communicated and informed BNM, Najib answered in the affirmative.

Shafee: The monies were from Saudi, [something] promised by King Abdullah [Abdulaziz Al Saud] in Riyadh. Did you have any inkling that the monies were from something illegal?

Najib: None at all, especially when the first two donations came from Riyadh's finance minister; the others were from [the] prince.

Najib was referring to remittances from the Middle East under the names 'Finance Minister of Riyadh' and 'Prince Faisal Turki'.

This was evidence tendered in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial, in the form of Najib's personal bank account statements. SRC is a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

Zeti had also taken the stand in the criminal trial last year. With regard to the donation letters, Zeti said that the brief meeting in 2011 was merely a "courtesy call".

She said that she told Cheah to direct all future communications relating to such matters to the then deputy governor, who oversaw financial surveillance and supervision of the financial system.

Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, who retired as the BNM governor in June last year, was the deputy governor at the material time.

Zeti had also testified she was not aware of three of the donation letters, and only came to know of their existence during a raid by the 1MDB special task force in July 2015.

Najib says he had 'warm' relationship with King Abdullah

Najib has always maintained that the monies were donations from the Middle East. On the stand on Thursday, the ex-PM said that he had a "warm" relationship with the late Saudi ruler, King Abdullah.

Najib added that when he visited the King in Riyadh, Abdullah said that "he would extend support" to Najib, hence leading Najib to expect the monies coming into his accounts.

This was around 2010, when the King had bestowed Najib with Saudi Arabia's highest honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash Order of Merit of the First Class.

At that juncture, only former US president Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin were recipients of that award.

It has to be noted that in the SRC criminal trial (for which Najib was convicted), the courts did not accept Najib's defence that the monies were donations. The court also ruled that the donation letters were an afterthought.

SRC's civil suit against Najib concerns a RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), which was given to SRC in two tranches in the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2012. The company claims that US$120 million had eventually ended up in Najib’s bank accounts.

This is different from Najib's SRC criminal case, where he is already serving his prison sentence after the apex court dismissed his appeal and review bid. In February, the Pardons Board reduced his initial 12-year jail sentence and fine of RM210 million to six years and a RM50 million fine.

The trial before High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin continues.

Edited ByAniza Damis

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