FUGITIVE businessman Low Taek Jho had approached Ambank in 2009 for a RM10 billion bond issuance with a 30-year tenure for a sovereign wealth fund to develop Terengganu, the High Court heard this morning 

This wealth fund later became 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). 

Joanna Yu, a former relationship manager at Ambank, disclosed that the bank held a meeting with Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) officials to discuss the issuance of the bond.

The meeting was attended by Yu’s colleague while TIA was represented by Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi (former 1MDB chief executive officer), Tang Keng Chee (former 1MDB executive director), and Low. 

“In this meeting, Jho Low and Tang asked many questions and inquired about the typical issues involved in the issuance of a bond, the structures and the timeline to issuance.

“We were initially asked to provide a proposal for a RM10 billion bond issuance with a 30-year tenure,” Yu said during Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial.

“In the end, they (TIA) agreed to a reduced RM5 billion government-guaranteed bond for 30 years.”

Najib is standing trial for corruption involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB. 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 funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Yu also informed the court before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah that she first met the Penang-born Low in 2007 – two years before the establishment of TIA.

At that time, Yu was working to secure loans for Majestic Masterpiece Sdn Bhd, a company controlled by Low.

Yu testified that Majestic Masterpiece wanted to buy shares in two companies – Loh & Loh Corporation Bhd and Putrajaya Perdana Bhd.

Majestic Masterpiece is owned by Wynton Private Equity Group and Abu Dhabi Kuwait Malaysia Investment Corp. Jho Low was one of the directors of Wynton. 

“Not long after the Majestic Masterpiece loan was approved by the bank and the acquisition of the entities above completed, Jho Low informed the bank that his team was looking to set up a sovereign wealth fund to raise funds to develop the state of Terengganu,” Yu told the court.

“Low told us that Tengku Rahimah (the sultan of Terengganu’s sister) was one of the directors in Loh & Loh. They wanted to develop the state,” she added. – October 13, 2022.