FORMER prime minister Najib Razak would have been aware that he was responsible for transactions under his name and liable for crimes committed via those bank accounts, AmBank manager R. Uma Devi told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today. 

When questioned by deputy public prosecutor V. Sithambaram, Uma said the terms and conditions of the five accounts that Najib opened would have stated those clauses. 

The witness also said RM4 billion was transferred from SRC International through its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari by March 2012 and that RM37 million was later transferred to Najib’s personal accounts between 2014 and 2015.

Uma said Najib would have been aware of the discrepancies in his personal accounts at AmBank as he would have been alerted by the bank.   

Former SRC International director and CEO and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil was given the mandate by Najib to issue credit and transfer instructions in relation to the accounts, she said. 

Najib had five personal accounts at AmBank – four current accounts and one savings.

Two accounts were opened in 2011 and closed in August 2013. Three accounts were opened in July 2013 and closed by March 2015.

She testified that AmBank did not receive any complaint from Najib on how the three newer accounts were managed. 

Sithambaram asked Uma if as branch manager, she was aware of any notification from Najib on errors, discrepancies, irregularities, unauthorised withdrawals, fraudulent transactions or entries made without mandate in relation to the three accounts. 

“To my knowledge and based on the records I had, no.” she said.

Sithambaram: Any complaint by Najib as to how these three accounts were managed?

Uma: No.

She added that bank statements are issued on a monthly basis to Najib and that a customer should refer to the bank within 14 days of any discrepancy. 

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, Uma said she had never met fugitive financier Low Taek Jho but believed that AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu had met Low.

Uma said Low, more commonly known as Jho Low, does not hold an account at AmBank’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch. 

She added she had not met Nik Faisal or former SRC International director Suboh Md Yasin.

Uma told the court that she was only the Raja Chulan branch manager for five days before Bank Negara carried out a raid on July 6, 2015. 

She said her predecessor, a Jayakumar, “warned” her a few days before she reported for duty on July 1 that there would be “issues” with some of the accounts at the branch. 

Najib is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power over funds amounting to RM42 million linked to SRC International. – April 25, 2019.