Najib never sued Ambank while he was account holder, bank manager tells court

 

AmBank branch manager R Uma Devi says monthly statements were sent to Najib Razak listing all the transactions in his five accounts.

KUALA LUMPUR: An Ambank officer told the High Court in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial the former prime minister never filed any lawsuit against the bank while he was an account holder.

R Uma Devi, AmBank’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch manager, said this when questioned by ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram.

“Did the accused (Najib) file any (court) proceedings against the bank for mishandling his accounts from 2015 until 2018,” Sri Ram asked.

In reply, Uma said Najib did not file any lawsuit against the bank during the period.

R Uma Devi.

Najib held five accounts with Ambank between 2011 and 2015.

A savings account ending with ‘481’ and a current account ending with ‘694’ were opened on Jan 13, 2011. They were closed on Aug 26, 2013.

Three other accounts – ending with ‘880’, ‘906’ and ‘898’ – were later opened on July 31, 2013 and closed on March 9, 2015.

Uma told the court that Ambank sent all their customers, including Najib, monthly bank statements listing all transactions in their accounts.

“There was no dispute or complaint (over) his accounts,” she said.

Najib filed a suit against his former relationship manager Joanna Yu and AmBank in December 2019, claiming they had breached their duty to protect his privacy under banking laws, including the Financial Services Act and the now repealed Banking and Financial Institution Act.

He alleged that Yu had communicated details of four of his five bank accounts to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, who he said was not authorised to manage the accounts.

He also claimed that Yu acted on Low’s advice, including using alternative names for his 694, 880, 898 and 906 accounts, seeking advice on the approval of cheques under those accounts, and taking active steps to hide bank account statements from him.

However, the Court of Appeal in January quashed Najib’s lawsuit against Yu and Ambank, saying the suit was “not filed genuinely for the purpose of getting damages but in reality (was) a collateral attack on what had already transpired and was completed in the SRC International case”.

Yu was one of the witnesses in the SRC International case. She is scheduled to testify in his 1MDB trial later.

Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

The former prime minister, who was taken to Kajang Prison to serve his sentence over the SRC International corruption case last month, was present in court today.

Before today’s hearing started, Sri Ram told the court that Najib needed to see a doctor in the afternoon.

“I have been informed by the prisons officers that the accused’s medication for his blood pressure has changed and that he has suffered an adverse impact,” he said, urging the court to hold a half-day hearing.

Trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah allowed the prosecution’s request. - FMT