RM90.9 million entered Najib's personal account in 2012, bank officer tells court

A sum of RM90.9 million went into Najib Razak’s personal account at AmIslamic Bank through two transactions in 2012, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Ambank (M) Bhd Jalan Raja Chulan branch manager R Uma Devi, 43, said based on the statement of the account ending with the number 694, a sum of RM15,149,963.64 entered the account of the former prime minister on Oct 31 and another RM75,749,963.64 on Nov 20, 2012.

She said this in her statement which she read in court during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Najwa Bistamam at Najib’s corruption and money laundering trial over RM2.3 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB.

In his opening statement in 2019, deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said that Najib had acted through fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, resulting in 1MDB making two transactions with the accused receiving RM90,899,927.28.

The transactions were connected to the second charge against Najib, involving the taking over of assets of dubious value by 1MDB.
 
Uma Devi also testified that in November and December 2011, Najib had issued cheques for RM2,494,000 to various parties.

"These were Semarak Konsortium Satu Sdn Bhd (RM494,900), Yayasan Rahah (RM1 million), ORB Solutions Sdn Bhd (RM450,000), Mashi Publication Sdn Bhd (RM30,000) and Transformasi Kreatif (RM520,000)," the 37th prosecution witness said.

Najib, 69, faces four charges of abusing his power to obtain RM2.3 billion (over US$700 million according to the exchange rate at the time) from 1MDB between 2011 and 2014, and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of abuse of power and up to five years for each of the money laundering charges.

The hearing before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.