FUGITIVE financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, was known to be a tardy person who could not be relied on to be on time, a former bank official told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today. 

Ex-AmBank group managing director Cheah Tek Kuang testified that he did not have a close relationship with Low and that in fact, he detested him for being habitually late for appointments.

The 72-year-old witness was cross-examined by defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh, who sought to establish the extent of Cheah’s connection with Low, which the defence contended was closer than suggested in the witness statement.

After half an hour of questioning, Cheah interjected with his views of the Penang-born businessman.

Cheah: I’ll tell you what kind of person he is. He is a person who is never punctual. If there is a meeting at 12pm, he comes at 1.30pm.

Harvinderjit: So, you would say he is unpredictable?

Cheah: I wouldn’t say that, he is perpetually late.

Harvinderjit: Then would you say he’s a liar?

Cheah: I wouldn’t say he’s a liar, but this sort of attitude, I don’t like it and I detest it. You cannot get close with that type of person.

Harvinderjit then referred to chat logs of communication between Cheah and AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu.

Cheah said he did not know if he was being referred to in the communications between Yu and Low and denied he was close with the latter.

Cheah also said he was not aware if Yu communicated with Najib on Low, telling the defence lawyer: “ask Yu herself when she testifies”.

Also testifying at today’s proceedings was former SRC International company secretary Chee Suwen, high court (civil) senior assistant registrar S. Mageswary and former finance ministry deputy secretary of investments Fauziah Yaacob.

Chee testified that SRC International’s office was raided by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in July 2015, just when the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) came out with its expose on alleged misappropriations in SRC International.

In fact, Chee said a board meeting was underway, with former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil in attendance, when the MACC officers raided the office. 

During his examination by prosecutors, Chee denied knowledge of the transactions reported by WSJ.

Cheah also told the court he met Low at a luncheon several years prior to early January, 2011, when he visited Najib’s residence in Kuala Lumpur to assist the then prime minister to open bank accounts. Low was there to usher him in.

Meanwhile, Mageswary identified documentation which were sought by MACC on June 3, last year in relation to a civil lawsuit by Najib against former MCA president Ling Liong Sik, who had alleged that the former prime minister pilfered public funds.

Fauziah testified that although SRC International was owned by the Minister of Finance Inc (MoF), the entity did not have Finance Ministry officers on its board and did not have the supervision of the ministry.

Najib’s charges are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, of which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in his personal accounts in 2014 and 2015.

He faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power.

Najib, 66, is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas is leading the prosecution, while Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is the presiding judge. – July 18, 2019.