A POLICE officer told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today Najib Razak’s Ambank account received RM2.08 billion in illicit funds from Tanore Finance Corporation (Tanore).

Anti-Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division assistant director Foo Wei Min said he applied the “first in, first out” (Fifo) investigation method to determine whether the money that entered the Ambank account (number ending in 694) was illicit or clean.

The 48th prosecution witness said his investigation found that an account held by Tanore, which is registered in Singapore, was opened at Falcon Private Bank on November 2, 2012, and the authorised person and beneficial owner named was Tan Kim Loong, an associate of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).

“Through this method of investigation, the receipt of Tanore’s illicit money of US$681,000,000, or RM2,081,476,926, into the AmBank account number ending in 694, was separated from money from other sources as well as money that was already in the account.

He confirmed the proceeds from unlawful activities involving 1MDB Global Investment Ltd (1MDB GIL) amounting to US$681,000,000 was received from Tanore via nine transactions between March 22 and April 10, 2013.

Foo said this when reading out his witness statement during the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar in Najib’s trial involving the alleged misappropriation of RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds.

He said that based on the statement for Najib’s Ambank account, there were several transactions from Tanore, namely, five cheques dated between August 2 and 14, 2013, totaling RM22,649,000.

“The results of the Fifo analysis on account 694 found a total of five transactions involving the use of illicit money from 1MDB GIL through checks drawn from account 694, and all the checks were signed by Datuk Seri Najib,” Foo said.

Najib, 70, faces four charges of abusing his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues. – Bernama, October 12, 2023.