Witness: Jho Low denied texting AmBank manager handling Najib's account

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): A witness told the High Court today that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, denied conversing via Blackberry Messenger (BBM) with former AmBank relationship manager, Joanna Yu Ging Ping when she was handling Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's accounts.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Special Operations Division senior assistant commissioner Rosli Husain, 54, said Jho Low made the denial in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Nov 27,2015 when shown a transcript of the BBM conversation.

He said this in response to Najib's lawyer Harvinderjit Singh's questions on the statements recorded from a number of individuals who were not called as witnesses at Najib's trial.

Harvinderjit: Was this BBM transcript shown to Jho Low?

Rosli: Yes it was.

Harvinderjit: Did he admit or deny it?

Rosli: He denied it.

Earlier, the court heard that the BBM conversations between Yu and Jho Low were related to entry and withdrawal transactions from the former prime minister's bank accounts.

The 57th prosecution witness testified that the MACC also recorded statements from former chief executive officer of SRC International Sdn Bhd, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, on two occasions in October 2015, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He also said his officers had taken statements from former Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz in 2018.

"I did not meet with Tan Sri Zeti but my officer recorded her statement in 2018 after the (SRC) charge (against Najib in July 2018)," said Rosli, who was assigned as the investigating officer in the SRC case on July 6,2015.

Asked if he had met with former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) director Terence Geh to record his statement, the witness replied,"I have not. He fled."

Najib, 66, faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, one count of abusing his position and three counts of money laundering involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds amounting to RM42mil.

The trial before justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali continues on Thursday. – Bernama