KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Low Taek Jho was the one who had told AmBank of plans by his “team” to set up the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) — which was later renamed as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the bank's former banker Joanna Yu told the High Court today.
Yu was the relationship manager for AmBank's clients such as former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
he was the 41st prosecution witness against Najib in the latter's trial over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds.
Yu said it was her AmBank team leader Chan Wan Seong who introduced her to Low — better known as Jho Low — as well as former 1MDB officers Tan Vern Tact and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
That was when she said she first got to know Low in 2007 when handling a loan.
Yu said she was assigned by Chan to handle a loan for Majestic Masterpiece Sdn Bhd — which was co-owned by Wynton Private Equity Group where Low is a director and Abu Dhabi Kuwait Malaysia Investment Corporation (ADKMIC) — for it to buy shares in Loh & Loh Corporation and Putrajaya Perdana Berhad.
“Not long after the Majestic Masterpiece loan was approved by the Bank and the acquisition of the entities above completed, Jho Low informed the Bank that his team was looking to set up a Sovereign Wealth Fund to raise funds to develop the state of Terengganu,” the 51-year-old said.
“When asked why Terengganu, Jho Low informed us that Tengku Rahimah, a director in Loh & Loh Corporation Bhd then is the sister to the Sultan of Terengganu who at that time was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, and as such they were looking to help develop the state of Terengganu,” she said, adding that AmBank was asked to help submit a proposal for the sovereign wealth fund to issue a bond.
The sovereign wealth fund that was set up in February 2009 was known as Terengganu Investment Authority Berhad (TIA), and was renamed in September 2009 to be 1MDB after it came under the federal government's ownership.
Shown various documents in court by lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, Yu confirmed she has never met Tan Kim Loong — an individual mentioned in one of these papers — and that Low had never mentioned Tan to her.
As for the opening of 1MDB's bank account at AmBank with the account number ending 7045 which involved the identification details and signatures of four 1MDB officials then, Yu confirmed having met them — former 1MDB chief investment officer Nik Faisal, former 1MDB chief financial officer Radhi Mohamad, 1MDB's former executive director of business development Tang Keng Chee otherwise known as Casey Tang, and former 1MDB chief executive officer Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
Yu said she had met Nik Faisal “many times”, noting that this individual was in 1MDB and also in SRC International Sdn Bhd and in Low's Wynton.
She noted that she had met Nik Faisal when AmBank was handling the loan for Majestic Masterpiece. She also confirmed having met Nik Faisal in the presence of Low.
Yu confirmed having met Shahrol Azral whom she identified as the CEO of TIA and subsequently CEO of 1MDB, confirming she had met him together with Low when there was a meeting between him, Tang and Low and AmBank when the bond for TIA was being conceptualised.
Najib was dressed in a light grey suit with a dark-coloured tie featuring diagonal stripes.
Earlier this morning, Najib's lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah cross-examined 38th prosecution witness and former AmBank director of foreign exchange and derivative sales Yap Wai Keat.
At around 10.38am as the trial was ongoing with Shafee asking Yap questions, Najib's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor — who was sitting in the public gallery — was seen passing an orange cup from the coffee chain Gloria Jeans to Najib.
Najib was then seen sipping from the cup at least two times during the trial.
Najib's 1MDB trial before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes this afternoon. On the first day of trial, the prosecution said it would prove that RM2,282,937,678.41 or over RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds had entered Najib’s personal bank accounts from the 1MDB scheme, including via companies allegedly linked to fugitive Low Taek Jho’s associate Eric Tan Kim Loong.
The prosecution had also said that it would prove that Low was Najib's alter ego and mirror image, and had referred to Low as having been involved in TIA and later 1MDB.
