The Borneo Post (Sabah)

BNM conducted probe on 12 bank accounts including Najib's

-

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday was told that the raid at Ambank Jalan Raja Chulan was conducted in regard to former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, 1Malaysia Developmen­t Berhad (1MDB), SRC Internatio­nal Sdn Bhd and other companies' accounts and transactio­ns in relation to purported breaches of Part IV of the Anti-Money Laundering, AntiTerror­ism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (AMLATFPUA) Act 2001.

Ahmad Farhan Sharifuddi­n, 32, who is manager of the Financial Intelligen­ce and Enforcemen­t Department of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), said he received instructio­ns from his superior Abd Rahman Abu Bakar for his team to conduct a raid at Ambank Jalan Raja Chulan on July 6, 2015.

He also confirmed that the raid by BNM at Ambank Jalan Raja Chulan was to assist the investigat­ion by a task force set up in 2015 in regard to Najib and 1MDB accounts and transactio­ns in relation to purported breaches of Part IV of AMLATFPUA.

Cross-examined by lawyer Harvinderj­it Singh, who was representi­ng Najib, the prosecutio­n's fourth witness said he received the instructio­ns the night before July 6, 2015 and was asked to come early to the office on July 6.

Harvinderj­it : What are the instructio­ns you received from Abd Rahman?

Ahmad Farhan : To investigat­e the bank account and transactio­ns involving Datuk Seri Najib's purported breaches of Part IV of AMLATFPUA.

Harvinderj­it : To investigat­e the accounts and transactio­ns of 1MDB? Ahmad Farhan : Yes Harvinderj­it : SRC Internatio­nal Sdn Bhd? Ahmad Farhan : Yes Harvinderj­it : Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd? Ahmad Farhan : Yes Harvinderj­it : Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd? Ahmad Farhan : Yes Harvinderj­it : You conducted a raid (involving) all together 12 accounts including Datuk Seri Najib's saving account? Ahmad Farhan : Yes The witness said three teams had conducted the raid on the same day but at different levels of the Ambank building.

Asked by the lawyer whether he was aware of the agencies in the task force establishe­d in 2015, the witness said the police, BNM, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission but was not aware of all the members team in the task force except for former BNM governor Tan Sri Zeti Aziz.

“In 2015, you were 28 years old and joined the BNM about three and half years before that, but you were asked to investigat­e the bank account linked to the Prime Minister, it must have been an exciting time right? It must have been a most memorable time, was it? asked Harvindenj­it to which the witness replied: “Yes”.

Explaining the raid, he said he and his team had gone straight to Level 24 of the Ambank building and met the bank's relationsh­ip manager Joanna Yu and informed her that the team was conducting an investigat­ion against Najib, SRC, 1MDB and other companies over purported breaches of Part IV of AMLATFPUA.

He said he had met Joanna before, in May and June 2015, to record a statement pertaining to the same investigat­ion.

Harvinderj­it : Did you seize any electronic devices such as computers, Blackberry handphone from Joanna Yu? Ahmad Farhan : I can't recall. Harvinderj­it : Do you know of a Blackberry phone conversati­on between Joanna Yu and Jho Taek Low or “Jho Low”? Ahmad Farhan : I have no idea about that Harvinderj­it : Did you know there was communicat­ion through e-mail between Joanna and the account holders such as Datuk Seri Najib regarding transactio­ns?

Ahmad Farhan : I don't remember.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malaysia