A FORMER charity foundation CEO was ordered by Najib Razak’s senior aide to assist in the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International’s CSR partner to the former prime minister’s personal bank accounts, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Former Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M) CEO Ung Su Ling told the court today of three transactions to two of Najib’s AmBank accounts that were funnelled through Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd, which is the corporate social responsibility partner to YR1M as well as 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

The transactions were RM27 million on December 26, 2014 to Najib’s AmIslamic bank account ending with “880”, RM10 million on December 26, 2014 to Najib’s AmIslamic bank account ending with “906” and RM5 million on February 10, 2015 to Najib’s account ending with “880”.

The private account numbers read out in court today were previously identified by AmBank manager R. Uma Devi as belonging to Najib.

Ung, who began work at YR1M in 2013, said she was summoned some time in September 2014 to the office of Najib’s principal private secretary Azlin Alias.

“It was there that Azlin told me that a sum of money will be transferred into Ihsan Perdanna but the amount was never revealed.

“I was then directed inform the Ihsan Perdana CEO to transfer RM27 million and RM5 million to the two AmBank accounts.

“I was only told the money was for CSR purposes. Azlin then requested that I inform Ihsan Perdana CEO Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman of where the money should be transferred to,” she said.

In December 2014, Ung said she was informed by Azlin via WhatsApp that the money was transferred and that she is to inform Shamsul to carry out his instructions to transfer RM27 million and RM5 million to the two accounts.

In February 2015, she was contacted again by Azlin via WhatsApp that another amount of money was transferred into Ihsan Perdan, but she was not informed of the amount. Azlin then requested that Ung inform Shamsul to transfer RM10 million into the AmBank account.

Ung said she forwarded an email from Ihsan Perdana executive Aishah Ghazali regarding a transfer form to AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu on February 9, 2015.  

“The reason I forwarded the e-mail was to inform (Yu) that the transfer was requested after 2pm, and as a result, Affin Bank staff are unable to process the transaction on the same day,” Ung said, adding that a tracking number was provided to Yu.

The purpose of the transaction was written as “Fund Transfer for CSR Programmes”. Ung said she was never told who the owner of the private AmBank accounts were.

Earlier, Ung, who had previously worked as an executive with CIMB Bank, said she applied to be YR1M ceo through Dennis See whom she knew handled 1MDB’s CSR initiatives. She said that See was her cousin and that she had not been interviewed for the position.

Between 2013 and 2015, YR1M channeled RM170 million into SRC International to carry out CSR activities. When it was established in 2013, YR1M received a grant of RM210 million from 1MDB, Ung testified.

Najib’s charges are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, for 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 16, 2019.