A FORMER AmBank relationship manager has denied she conspired with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho to defraud SRC International of millions of ringgit, which led to criminal charges levelled against former prime minister Najib Razak.

Joanna Yu – who worked at AmBank for two decades – was pressed by ad hoc prosecutor V. Sithambaram today for an explanation after she was accused by Najib’s defence lawyers of being a “rogue banker”.

Sithambaram: That is their allegation, that you are a rogue banker acting in concert with Jho Low, resulting in the present charges against the accused.

Yu: We didn’t act on anything, there was no conspiracy. When the account was overdrawn, we contacted the mandate holder, or Jho Low. Otherwise there would be a dishonoured cheque on that account. That was what we did.

Just earlier, Yu was prompted whether Najib has accused her of conspiring with Low to perpetrate fraud using his accounts, to which Yu replied in the negative.

When Sithambaram began using the “rogue banker” reference, defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh objected to the line of questioning, saying the defence did not have the benefit of viewing BlackBerry Messenger chat logs prior.

Sithambaram told the defence to withdraw the “roger banker” reference.

“They cannot in the course of the trial make allegations against the bank. She is the relationship manager for the bank. She is the only one who is able to explain. If he doesn’t withdraw, I will ask (my question).”

During cross-examination, Harvinderjit suggested to Yu that her former boss, ex-AmBank group managing director Cheah Tek Kuang was sociable with Low.

Harvinderjit suggested that prior to the formation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd, which once owned SRC International, Low was instrumental in bringing a lot of business to AmBank, to which Joanna agreed.

However, she said she was not aware that Cheah and Low ever dined together.

Harvenderjit then referred to a phone text message to Low, whereby Yu wrote: “He misses you la. :).”

Yu: He (Cheah) is the group MD. He knows all the clients. He has to do PR.

Harvinderjit: Yet you told him (Low) that he (Cheah) missed Jho. You said he always asked: “Is Jho in town, is Jho in town?” I take that as asking (after him). You had that perception that Cheah was fond enough of Jho that you can say that he missed him?

Yu: Yeah, but Mr Cheah did that for a lot of clients who owed the bank a lot of money and for people who had a lot of transactions.

Harvinderjit: You wouldn’t ask affectionately, if he didn’t like the person. You know what I mean? I am talking generally. You would not ask about a person if you are not fond of him?

Yu: It may not be fondness. It may be that they owe you or something.

Harvinderjit: Cheah said he was never on time and he said: “I don’t like him because he’s not on time”...

Yu: Jho is never on time. It’s just that we have to put up with the tardiness.

Cheah retired as group managing director in 2012 and was appointed as a non-executive director. He stepped down from the board in 2014.

Yu said after Cheah left, she was instructed to inform Low that Najib’s remaining three current accounts should be closed.

Najib opened a savings account and a current account early in 2011 before closing them in 2013, after which he opened three new current accounts.

Yu said she told Low that Najib’s accounts should be closed due to a money laundering red flag raised by the new AmBank group managing director Ashok Ramamurthy.

Yu added that the millions in transactions did not help matters. Yu earlier testified that AmBank was “uncomfortable” in 2014 with large volume of cash deposits made into Najib’s accounts.

A request to close Najib’s accounts was also made to SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who was the mandate holder for Najib’s accounts.

She said between June 2014 to March 2015, about RM12.38 million in cash was deposited into Najib’s accounts, arranged mostly by Low’s associate, Kee Kok Thiam, or otherwise by Nik Faisal or Low himself.

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.

The 66-year-old is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas leads the prosecution, while Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali presides. – July 22, 2019.