28-7-2023 (KUALA LUMPUR) Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the former governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, testified in the High Court that former Prime Minister Najib Razak had requested her assistance in clearing his name regarding the RM2.6 billion (S$770 million) found in his personal bank account.
However, Aziz revealed that she refused to comply with his request as she had no knowledge about the transactions in his account.
During her testimony, Aziz stated, “I was called to the Prime Minister’s Office. He (Najib) requested that I issue a statement stating that he had not engaged in any wrongdoing concerning his account.”
“I informed him that I could not issue such a statement because I did not possess any information regarding the transactions that took place in his account. He accepted my decision,” added Aziz, who is the 46th prosecution witness in Najib’s trial involving the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.
Following the meeting, Aziz received a call from a minister who made the same request, to which she provided the same response, as reported by Bernama.
Aziz, 76, further emphasized that she had no knowledge of the RM2.6 billion transferred into Najib’s personal bank account at the relevant time.
She stated, “Regarding the allegations made by Najib during his interview with Malaysiakini, published on July 2, 2018, where he claimed that I was aware of the RM2.6 billion in his account at AmIslamic Bank Berhad and that I did not raise any questions about it, I wish to unequivocally state that I had no knowledge of the transactions that were undertaken in his account at that material time.” Aziz firmly denied Najib’s claim, asserting that she was unaware of the RM2.6 billion and that the funds belonged to 1MDB.
Aziz highlighted that the primary concern during that period was the failure of AmBank to report over 500 suspicious or irregular transactions related to the account to Bank Negara, as required by Malaysia’s Anti-Money Laundering Act.
When questioned by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, Aziz confirmed that no member of her family had ever received funds from 1MDB.
In addition, Aziz informed the High Court that the former group managing director of AmBank Group had never mentioned any intended donations to be transferred into Najib’s AmBank account.
Aziz recalled a meeting with former AmBank managing director Cheah Tek Kuang at Bank Negara on January 28, 2011, during which he informed her about Najib opening an account with AmIslamic Bank Berhad. Cheah mentioned that the account would be referred to using a code for the Ringgit Operations Monitoring System.
“At no time during this meeting did Cheah ever mention any intended donations that were to be remitted into this account,” Aziz stated.
She further revealed that six weeks later, Cheah sent a letter dated March 22, 2011, to then-deputy governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, attaching a letter of intent promising a donation from Saud Abdulaziz Majid Al Saud, dated February 1, 2011, and addressed to Najib.
“In a letter to Bank Negara dated June 20, 2013, Najib sought Foreign Exchange Administration approval to convert an amount of up to RM2.26 billion in his current account to US dollars for the purposes of returning or remitting the entire amount,” Aziz explained.
She added, “In his letter, he declared the funds as being the unutilized sum of donations and personal gifts that he had received. Based on this letter, for funds owned by the account holder, as declared in the letter, no approval was required under FEA rules.”
Furthermore, Aziz revealed that Bank Negara had submitted an investigation paper to the Attorney General’s Chambers, recommending criminal prosecution against 1MDB and its senior officers. However, the paper was classified as “no further action” by then-attorney general Apandi Ali on September 11, 2015, for unknown reasons, despite the incriminating evidence gathered.
Aziz explained that the investigation paper was submitted as 1MDB and its officers were found to have violated provisions under the Exchange Control Act 1953 by providing false information to Bank Negara in the 1MDB application for permission to make offshore payments.
Najib, 70, currently faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB, as well as 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
