KUALA LUMPUR (July 24): About RM20 million was transferred from Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) to FashionValet Sdn Bhd's bank account in 2018, the Sessions Court heard on Friday.
Testifying in the ongoing criminal trial of FashionValet co-founders Datuk Fadzarudin Shah Anuar and Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof, banker Shamsiah Musa confirmed that the monies went to the e-commerce fashion platform's Public Bank (KL:PBBANK) account in two tranches.
The husband and wife are on trial over allegations of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM8 million of funds from Khazanah Nasional Bhd and PNB.
Shamsiah, who is now an assistant manager at Maybank's Jalan Tun Razak branch, confirmed that a total of RM20,318,510 was transferred out of PNB's Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK) account on June 4, 2018, and Dec 20, 2018.
"I have checked all monthly account statements for the year 2018, and I confirm that there were only two fund transfer transactions from PNB’s Maybank account to FashionValet Sdn Bhd’s Public Bank account," the 54-year-old testified.
She confirmed that RM11,953,509 was transferred in June 2018, while the balance of RM8,365,001 was transferred in December 2018.
She said that the transfer in June was done manually, where an authorised signatory was required, while the December transfer was an online transaction.
Shamsiah testified that at that juncture, there were a total of 22 authorised signatories for PNB's account. They were divided into three groups — Group A, B, and C — where each group has a set limit established to verify transactions.
The signatories were: Soedirman Aini, Datuk Mohd Yaakub Johari, Nurdina Mohd Shamsudin, Datuk Mohd Nizam Zainordin, Nur Adzlina Kamaruddin, Adibah Khairiah Ismail, Ahmad Tarquin Mohammad Khalid, Datuk Nik Ramlah Nik Mahmood, Datuk Johan Ariffin, Hanizan Hood, Riziana Hanim Jamel, Rizal Rickman Ramli, Ezzudean Mohd Salleh, Ahmad Zulqarnain Che On, Tun Ariffin Zakaria, Norhanifah Ajalil, Hafizuddin Sulaiman, Datuk Asri Hamidin @ Hamidon, Datin Norazah Mohamed Razali, Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda, Datuk Johan Mahmood @ Johan Mahmood Merican, and Mohd Irwan Ahmad Mustafa @ Mustafa.
The witness, however, did not specify which individuals were categorised under which group of signatories or which group authorised the transfer to FashionValet.
Shamsiah said that the PNB account was opened in 1978 and was a corporate current account (CCA).
During cross-examination by defence counsel M Athimulan, the witness clarified that the account was not a special trust or an escrow account.
When asked, she also said that there were no instructions either from the authorities or from PNB to freeze or stop the transactions.
The witness also agreed that these transactions were lawful (sah) and transparent (telus).
The trial before Sessions Court judge Rosli Ahmad continues on Aug 17.