My family never took 1MDB funds - Zeti

1MDB Trial | Former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz testified that her family never took money from troubled sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

The 46th prosecution witness told the Kuala Lumpur High Court this during the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak earlier this afternoon.

She was responding during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib.

Akram: Throughout this episode of 1MDB, did you or any family members receive any benefit from it?

Zeti: No one in my family ever received or taken 1MDB money. Not a single sen.

On Feb 24 last year, Zeti’s husband Tawfiq Ayman expressed shock at former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner’s bribery allegation against him.

In a statement to Malaysiakini, Tawfiq dismissed as untrue the testimony by the former banker before the New York Eastern District Court.

Leissner was the star witness in the ongoing 1MDB-linked court trial of another former Goldman Sachs banker, Roger Ng, in the United States.

“I am shocked with the statements made against me by Leissner, which had been reported in the media.

“I do not know Leissner or Ng and neither have I met, nor have ever communicated with either of them.

“I wish to categorically state that throughout my entire life, I have never received any bribes from anyone.

“In view of the ongoing proceedings in New York, I have been advised not to make any further comments as it may amount to sub judice.

“We will be seeking legal advice on the next course of action to be taken on the statements made against me,” Tawfiq said.

Najib’s legal team repeatedly claimed Zeti’s family received 1MDB funds via several companies in Singapore.

For the ongoing criminal trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, former finance minister Najib is facing four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).

For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’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 accused is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.

The trial will resume on Aug 14. - Mkini