‘BOSS WILL TAKE CARE’ – AIDE REVEALS HE & NAJIB’S CHIEF SECRETARY WERE ASKED BY JHO LOW ‘WITH NAJIB’S BLESSINGS’ TO OPEN OVERSEAS ACCOUNTS IN THEIR OWN NAMES – AND LATER HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY WERE SLUSHED IN: BUT WERE THE SUMS REALLY MEANT AS ‘STANDBY’ FOR NAJIB’S GE13 WAR CHEST OR ‘GRATIFICATION’ FOR AMHARI & AZLIN?

NAJIB Razak’s senior aides were instructed by Low Taek Jho to open bank accounts overseas prior to the 2013 general election, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Najib’s former special officer Amhari Effendi Nazaruddin said he and Najib’s principal private secretary Azlin Alias were told to do so in 2012.

Amhari told the court that Low – better known as Jho Low – said the move had Najib’s “blessings” and that the accounts were to “standby” “just in case.”

During that period, whispers had started about problems at 1MDB.

“We were fearful because there were possibilities that these accounts would be turned into money laundering accounts, for the purpose of holding the politician funds for Datuk Seri Najib to face the 13th general election,” Amhari said.

Low, however, assured them that the “boss will take care” that there would be no problems, the witness said, adding that Low was referring to Najib.

After further assurances from Low that matters would be “aboveboard”, Amhari said he was advised by Azlin to go along or risk losing their jobs.

“I decided to follow Datuk Azlin’s advice because he was my boss and knew more about such matters,” Amhari said.

Low arranged for a trip to Singapore, whereby they met Yvonne, a representative of BSI bank. Amhari said he and Azlin handed over their identifications documents to her.

“I just did whatever Datuk Azlin said. We were manipulated by Jho Low, with the assistance of Yvonne and another BSI officer, whose name I can no longer recall,” he said.

Amhari’s application to open an account was rejected while Azlin’s was approved.

“I felt relieved…however, at another meeting, Jho Low said my BSI account was successfully open,” the witness said.

Amhari said he was advised by Azlin to never use the money as it did not belong to them. “Datuk Azlin told me to just follow orders (from Low) and to just play along.”

A year after Azlin died in a helicopter crash in 2015, Ahmari said he was contacted by a BSI officer who told him that he had US$800,000 (RM3.36 million) in his account.

“After I was informed (of the amount), I was shocked because I did not know anything about this money.”

Amhari said the BSI officer later said the account was to be closed and that the money would transferred to another account.

“I referred the matter to Jho Low,” the witness said.

Amhari had also gone to Shanghai, China to open a bank account on the Low’s instructions but his application was declined. Amhari said he then travelled to Bangkok, again on Low’s instructions, to open an account. The application this time was successful and the account later received a deposit of  US$800,000.

Amhari said he never spent or transferred any of the money and that Low had managed and transferred the money in the account.

“The staff at PMO was never allowed to question where political funds had come from because this would be seen as questioning Datuk Seri Najib’s credibility.”

Amhari said he believes that political money had come from Low because Low had himself told him and Azlin that he intended to use those funds to win over voters in Penang in the upcoming 2013  general election.

He said he never knew the status of account or found out where Low obtained the money from.

Najib is on trial for four counts of power abuse to enrich himself by RM2.3 billion and a 21 counts of laundering the same amount.

The 66-year-old accused is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Gopal Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, leads the prosecution while Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah is the sitting judge.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT