FORMER Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz was aware that jailed former prime minister Najib Razak would receive a US$100 million (RM464 million) donation from Arab Saudi in 2011, Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Ex-AmBank group managing director Cheah Tek Kuang in his witness statement said he met Zeti after opening a bank account for Najib at AmBank.

“After meeting with Najib, I made an appointment to meet with Zeti,” he said.

“The purpose of the meeting is to inform her about the opening of Najib’s account and the incoming funds of US$100 million from Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Cheah said that prior to meeting Zeti he visited Najib at his residence in Kenny Hills to assist him in opening the account.

“After getting the necessary documents, I had to get Najib’s signature.

“He then informed me that there will be funds of US$100 million from Saudi Arabia that will be coming in.

“I did not ask what the money was for, but he stated that the money was from the government of Saudi Arabia for ‘Islamic activities’.”

Cheah said the meeting with Zeti was discreet and it was only the two of them discussing Najib’s account “since this matter was a secret and involved the interests of the prime minister”.

“It was important that Zeti was aware as it involved a ‘politically exposed person’ (PEP).

“Meaning, it involved the interests of the country.”

He said Zeti took note and requested that it should be done in accordance with existing banking and BNM regulations.

Last week, AmBank’s capital market head Yap Wai Keat told the court Najib’s AmBank account was “sensitive” because he was a PEP.

He said this was because large amounts of money were being remitted in and out of his account.

Yesterday, Yap told the court Najib allegedly received a total of US$1.17 billion from an Arab donor in two separate transactions in 2011 and 2013.

He said this when he was asked to verify two transactions of US$800 million and US$375 million that were deposited into Najib’s account.

Cheah said after meeting Zeti, he handed over all operational matters to relationship manager Joanna Yu and to the operations division led by Ross Foden.

“Foden and his team proposed to regulate these accounts by providing a special code name since this account was sensitive and to avoid information leakage, such as in the case of National Feedlot Corporation.

“I agreed with the code name which is ‘AmPrivate Banking-MR’ for Najib’s account and to prevent personal information from being misused.”

Cheah said he was then given a letter with Najib’s account code name to be sent to Zeti.

Najib is standing trial for corruption involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds. He faces 25 charges – four for abuse of power and 21 for money-laundering – for offences committed between 2011 and 2013.

He is currently serving 12 years in Kajang Prison, having been convicted of misappropriating SRC International funds.

The hearing continues tomorrow. – October 4, 2022.