The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd enters its 45th day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- 'Pie' and 'satay' - how Jho Low refers to US dollar, ringgit transactions
- Jho Low seems to be the decision maker on Najib's accounts.
- Money flowing into Najib's account not hidden from authorities.
- RM1.13 billion transferred into Najib's account between 2011 and January 2013
- Najib in his state of mind believes RM42 million a donation.
- Joanna Yu confirms US$100 million transferred into Najib's account in 2011.
- Cross-examination of former AmBank manager Joanna Yu resumes.
- Defence to submit that Ranjit's testimony was not relevant to the current case.
- Witness says Najib had admitted to receiving RM42million into his bank accounts.
- The prosecution calls on 55th withness, lawyer Ranjit Singh, to take the stand.
Court breaks for lunch
1pm - Court breaks for lunch. Proceedings to resume at 2.30pm.
'Pie' and 'satay' - how Jho Low refers to US dollar, ringgit transactions
12:54pm - Jho Low used the nomenclatures pie and satay to refer to US dollar and ringgit transactions, testifies Joanna Yu.
Harvinderjit: Why use these nomenclatures of pie and satay?
Yu: That is what Low used (in the Blackberry messenger chats).
Harvinderjit: Pie is US dollar, satay is ringgit?
Yu: Yes
In the Blackberry chat logs being referred to, the term 'pie' and 'satay' tend to occur especially in relation to the massive inflow of foreign money into Najib Abdul Razak's account.
Jho Low seems to be the decision maker on Najib's accounts
12.25pm - Former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu says Jho Low seems to be the person issuing instructions on Najib Abdul Razak's bank accounts
SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, the accounts' mandate holder is merely seen to just formalising the instructions.
Money flowing into Najib's account not hidden from authorities
11.55am - Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu says there was "nothing to hide" in regards to the massive inflow of funds into then premier Najib Abdul Razak's account between 2011 and 2013.
Haverderjit questioned Yu if she made any efforts to hide the transactions from 2011-2013 from the authorities.
Yu: There was nothing to hide.
Harvinderjit: A lot of people knew about this amount?
Yu: The relevant department handling the current account, the bosses, they knew.
Harvinderjit: If what (former AmBank managing director) Cheah (Tek Kuang) told you was true, even the (then) Bank Negara governor?
Yu: Yes.
RM1.13 billion transferred into Najib's account between 2011 and January 2013
11.45am - The court hears from Joanna Yu, a former AmBank relationship manager, that an account belonging to former premier Najib Abdul Razak received US$369.99 million in several transactions between 2011 and Jan 10, 2013.
She confirms that the amount was equivalent to RM1.136 billion in response to defence lawyer Harvinderjit Singh question during cross-examination on the total amount of foreign funds transferred into Najib's account ending in 694.
Najib in his state of mind believes RM42 million a donation - defence
11.15am - The prosecution, through DPP V Sithambaram, raises their concern over the defence's line of questioning in the cross-examination of former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu.
Sithambaram says defence lawyer Harvinderjit Singh has been asking Yu to confirm banking transactions related to Najib Abdul Razak's AmBank account ending 694 that took place before 2013.
The DPP questions the relevance as the charges against the former premier concerned the RM42 million that went into two other accounts opened in 2013.
"Perhaps my learned friend can inform relevancy. Otherwise, it would be waste of time," says Sithambaram.
Harvinderjit counters that the defence has managed to establish a series of transactions where Jho Low was communicating with Yu in regards to funds transferred into Najib's accounts.
He says the court should look into the transactions holistically from the time Najib's first account was opened until the closure of all his accounts.
This, again, prompts Sithambaram to question the relevancy of the 2011 transactions to the current case.
"This money...was used up well before the charges. Where is the relevance?" asks Sithambaram.
Harvinderjit replies that the money in Najib's new accounts is related to the current charges as it appeared to have originated from the same source as the previous transactions in 2011.
"Even if (the money was) used up, that is not the point. The point is, my client in his mind (thinks that the money he spent) was a donation, then this is relevant.
"His state of mind, this is where we are going with this," says Harvinderjit.
Joanna Yu confirms US$100 million transferred into Najib's account in 2011
11am - Joanna Yu tells the court that US$100 million was transferred into Najib Abdul Razak's AmBank current account ending 694 in 2011.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, the former AmBank relationship manager testifies that the money was received in four tranches of US$10 million, US$10 million, US$50 million and US$30 million.
She also confirms there were corresponding chats through Blackberry Messenger between her and fugitive businessperson Jho Low on these transactions.
Cross-examination of former AmBank manager Joanna Yu resumes
10.33am - 54th witness and former AmBank Relationship Manager Joanna Yu takes the stand for the resumption of cross-examination by lawyer Harvinderjit Singh.
Defence will raise purported irrelevance of witness testimony
9.57am - Lead defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informs the court that the defence will later submit that lawyer Ranjit Singh's testimony is irrelevant to Najib Abdul Razak's current RM42 million criminal case.
Shafee says this prior to defence lawyer Harvinderjit Singh's cross-examination the 55th witness.
In turn, DPP V Sithambaram replies that the prosecution disagrees with this and will later counter submit that the oral evidence is relevant.
Earlier, Ranjit, who had acted for ex-MCA president Ling Liong Sik in a suit against him by Najib, testifies that former prime minister had admitted in the suit that RM42 million flowed was deposited into his bank accounts.
Najib admitted to receiving RM42 million in his bank accounts - Ranjit Singh
9.48am - Lawyer Ranjit Singh told the court that during Najib Abdul Razak's suit against former MCA president Ling Liong Sik, the latter had admitted that not only RM42 million was deposited into his accounts but Najib had also received US$700 million.
The 55th witness tells DPP V Sithambaram that Najib's statement was made in an affidavit responding to Ling's defence and counterclaim back in February 2016.
Ranjit says Najib in his respone to Ling's defence and counterclaim, had conceded that RM42 million went into his accounts but denied any knowledge that the funds were channelled via two intermediaries, Gandingan Mentari and Ihsan Perdana.
He says around 2015, the Wall Street Journal and Sarawak Report reported that the RM42 million flowed into Najib's accounts via the two intermediaries.
The lawyer also says that Najib, in his affidavit in relation to the suit, replied that the US$700 million which was also deposited in his accounts from an overseas source was a personal donation.
Ranjit, who acted for Ling in the suit, says that the matter was later settled with both Najib and Ling withdrawing their suit and counterclaim with no liberty to file afresh.
Proceedings begin with 55th witness taking the stand
9.21am - Ranjit Singh testifies he had represented former MCA president Ling Liong Sik in a suit by Najib.
9.17am - DPP V Sithambaram informs the court that the 55th witness, lawyer Ranjit Singh, will take the stand today for examination-in-chief, instead of the 54th witness, former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu.
9.15am - Najib Abdul Razak enters the dock as proceedings begin.
Najib arrives in court
9.07am - Accused Najib Abdul Razak arrives in court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery.
Awaiting the beginning of proceedings is Najib's lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and other members of the defence.
Also present are Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and other DPPs.
Attention today will be on the approach adopted by the defence in the cross-examination of former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu at former premier Najib Abdul Razak's RM42 million SRC International trial today.
As proceedings before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali enter the 45th day, the defence will have benefited from going through a trove of BlackBerry chats made available to them on Thursday last week.
On Thursday, deputy public prosecutor V Sithambaram informed the court that the prosecution had provided the defence with the chat logs, which the latter previously said contained recorded conversations related to Najib's seven charges of abuse of power, graft, and money laundering.
Yu, the 54th prosecution witness, delivered a series of critical testimonies last week.
She said that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho had asked her to hide Najib’s identity in the former premier's account statements with AmBank in 2011.
Yu also testified that she refused to delete her chat history despite being asked by Low to do so, and that Najib’s accounts were closed in 2015 due to red flags and bad press over the allegedly large transfers of foreign currency into the accounts.
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