KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) had instructed for AmBank to remove oil and gas company PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) as the recipient of two transactions amounting to US$95mil (RM289.8mil) in 2011.
Prosecution witness Salmah Daman Huri, 50, testified that the bank's forex unit had received a letter from 1MDB on May 26, 2011, that instructed for the removal of two transactions; for US$30mil (RM90.8mil) dated May 20, 2011 and US$65mil (RM199mil) dated May 23, 2011.
This is despite earlier instructions from 1MDB to make the payments of US$30mil and US$65mil to PSI using the account 11116073.2000 held by RBS Coutts Bank Ltd.
"1MDB did not inform the name of the new account owner but instructed the bank to maintain the current account number of 11116073.2000 without naming the account owner," Salmah said.
Salmah, who is Ambank's treasury operation department vice-president, was reading her witness statement in an examination-in-chief conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam here at the 1MDB trial involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Thursday (June 9).
The witness was also shown a letter issued by PSI to 1MDB on May 25, 2011 - a day before the bank received orders for the removal - that instructed 1MDB to omit PSI as the recipient for the two transactions.
"This letter is also an instruction by PSI to 1MDB for 1MDB to retain the current account number which is 11116073.2000 without stating the name of the account owner," she said.
Meanwhile, another witness Fatehah Md Salleh, 39, testified that Deutsche Bank (M) Bhd received a payment instruction of US$110mil from 1MDB on May 27, 2011.
The amount was to be credited into the account 11116073.2000 held at RBS Coutts.
The witness, who is the assistant vice-president at Deutsche's Global Market Operation, said the instruction letter was signed by 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
Fatehah was also referred to a letter issued by PSI to 1MDB signed by Tarek Obaid on May 25, 2011.
The letter clarified that the recipient of the transaction should be 'account 11116073.2000' and not PSI.
The letter also stated that the account (11116073.2000) had received US$30mil and US$65mil.
After the bank conducted the Preventive Crime Research (PCR) and "HotScan" systems for the purpose of the transaction, the checks showed that there were no obstacles or "no hit" to follow through with the transaction.
"I hereby confirm that the transaction went through," she said.
The court had earlier heard testimony that a bank account number 11116073 belonged to Good Star Ltd, a company which was initially represented as a PSI subsidiary but was later revealed to be controlled by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or better known as Jho Low.
Najib is on trial for 25 charges in total - four for abuse of power that allegedly brought him financial benefit to the tune of RM2.28bil; and 21 for money laundering involving the same amount of money.
The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Monday (June 13).
