1MDB TRIAL | Najib Abdul Razak’s former banker Joanna Yu testified that she was introduced to fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho two years before 1MDB’s predecessor was set up in 2009.
Yu, who used to be a relationship manager with AmBank, told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that her then-team leader Chan Wan Seong introduced her to Low (also known as Jho Low) and two others in 2007. The other two are Tan Vern Tact and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
Tan and Nik Faisal would later become officers with the sovereign wealth fund, with the latter being the fund’s chief investment officer.
Initially established in early 2009 as an entity owned by the Terengganu state government, the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) was later fully transferred to the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) later that year and renamed 1MDB.
Yu, who is the 41st prosecution witness, said this morning that Chan introduced her to the three men when she was assigned to handle the loans of Majestic Masterpiece Sdn Bhd in 2007.
As Najib looked on from the dock during the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against him, Yu said that the company was looking to acquire the shares of two other companies, namely Loh and Loh Corporation Berhad and Putrajaya Perdana Berhad.
She explained that Majestic Masterpiece was owned by Wynton Private Equity Group and Abu Dhabi Kuwait Malaysia Investment Corporation (ADKMIC), with Low being one of Wynton’s directors.
“Not long after the Majestic Masterpiece loan was approved by the bank and the acquisition of the entities above completed, Low informed the bank that his team was looking to set up a sovereign wealth fund (TIA) to raise funds to develop the state of Terengganu,” she said.
While reading out from her written witness statement, Yu said that she had then attended a meeting in 2009 with Low and several others to come up with the related bond issuance.
She said besides her and Low, others who attended the meeting were Casey Tang and Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi; several AmBank officers such as Chan; as well as several members of the bank’s debt capital markets division.
Tang would later become 1MDB’s business development executive director and Shahrol Azral would become the fund’s CEO.
“In this meeting, Low and Casey Tang asked many questions and inquired about the typical issues involved in the issuance of a bond, the structures and the timeline to issuance. We were initially asked to provide a proposal for an RM10 billion-bond issuance with a 30-year tenure.
“My colleagues from the Treasury and Debt Capital Market division shared that there may not be enough investors for the size of RM10 billion and that a 30-year bond tenure in Malaysia was also unprecedented.
“There were several suggestions being discussed, amongst them was to obtain a government guarantee for the bonds, to reduce the size of the bond issue, and also to shorten the tenure of the bond. Following this meeting, there were several other discussions.
“Eventually the client agreed to a reduced issuance size of RM5 billion-government guarantee bond for a period of 30 years. I am not sure who made the decision to have a government guarantee for this bond, but as far as I know, the Bank’s Treasury/Debt Capital Market did share that a government guarantee may be required for a bond period exceeding 20 years.
“Normally, it is the customer who makes the final decision on the bond structure and for 1MDB, the client was instrumental in procuring the government guarantee for the bond,” Yu said.
She testified that once the issuance of the bond was agreed upon, TIA opened an account at AmBank for the purpose of receiving the bonds’ proceeds.
Yu joined Ambank in 1995 as an officer in its Corporate Banking Division at Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, and was with the bank until the end of 2015, with her last position there being the executive vice-president of the Wholesale Banking Coverage division.
Proceedings before trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah would resume this afternoon.
25 charges
Najib is on trial for four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB.
In relation to the four abuse of power charges, the incumbent Pekan MP was alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
On the 21 money laundering counts, the former finance minister was purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.
The prosecution contended that the wrongdoing at 1MDB was carried out by Low and several others with Najib’s blessing.
The accused’s defence team, however, claimed that the former premier had no knowledge of the crime perpetrated at 1MDB and the embezzlement was solely masterminded by Low and other members of the fund’s management.
1MDB is wholly owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
Najib also used to be the chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers.
The BN advisory chairperson is serving a 12-year jail sentence after the Federal Court on Aug 23 dismissed his appeal against the SRC conviction over seven criminal charges, the custodial term, and an RM210 million fine in lieu of an additional five years in jail.
Initially a subsidiary of 1MDB, SRC later became fully owned by MOF Inc. Najib also used to be adviser emeritus to SRC. - Mkini
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