1MDB TRIAL | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s legal team claimed they have reliable information that fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) was a frequent visitor to then Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
The prosecutors then said they would be calling Zeti (above) to testify as a prosecution witness to respond to the allegation.
The exchanges between lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and lead deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram took place during the trial of the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption case against Najib.
As the accused looked on from the dock in the Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon, Shafee was initially cross-examining former AmBank managing director Cheah Tek Kuang about whether the latter had ever visited Zeti’s house.
Cheah, who is the 39th prosecution witness, testified that he once visited her house when the then-BNM governor held an open house at Bukit Tunku in Kuala Lumpur for the banking fraternity.
Shafee: Did you see Low at any time at her house?
Cheah: No.
Shafee: I have reliable information to suggest that Low was a frequent visitor to Zeti’s house.
Cheah: I am not aware at all.
At this juncture, Sri Ram raised an objection to Shafee’s line of questioning.
“We are calling Zeti and she has an answer,” the prosecutor told the court.
Shafee then changed his line of cross-examination to the RM5 billion Islamic Medium Term Notes (IMTN) issued in 2009 by 1MDB’s predecessor, Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).
Proceedings before trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah is set to continue tomorrow and Thursday.
In the past, during cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, Najib’s legal team had mounted lines over whether Zeti’s family had a role in the 1MDB case by knowing Low.
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 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 is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.
In the prosecution’s opening statement at the beginning of the trial on Aug 28, 2019, Sri Ram contended that the crime was allegedly committed through four phases spanning from 2011 to 2014.
Prosecutors contended that the first nine money laundering charges relate to allegedly receiving RM2,081,476,926 which forms the subject matter of the amended third charge and that the monies purportedly fell into the accused’s account ending in 694 with AmIslamic Bank.
The prosecution claimed that between Aug 2, 2013, and Aug 23, 2013, the accused transferred a sum of RM2,034,350,000 to Tanore Singapore.
Prosecutors alleged that simultaneously, the accused used the balance of RM22,649,000 to pay four entities and one individual.
The prosecution contends that all these payments purportedly benefited the accused.
They also contended that Najib received US$20 million (RM60,629,839.43) of 1MDB’s funds from alleged Arab royal “Prince Faisal” via two tranches of US$10 million each - the first tranche was on Feb 24, 2011, and the second tranche on June 14, 2011.
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 prime minister 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 fully 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 International 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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