KUALA LUMPUR: AmBank was told to remove oil and gas company PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) as the recipient of two transactions amounting to US$95mil (RM289.8mil) in 2011.
The money from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) was instead transferred to another account holder who was not named, the High Court was told.
Prosecution witness Salmah Daman Huri, 50, said AmBank’s forex unit received a letter from 1MDB on May 26, 2011, instructing the removal of two transactions –for US$30mil (RM90.8mil) dated May 20, 2011 and for US$65mil (RM199mil) dated May 23, 2011.
This was despite earlier instructions to make the payments to PSI using the account number 11116073.2000, held by RBS Coutts Bank Ltd.
“1MDB did not name the new account owner but instructed the bank to maintain the current account number of 11116073.2000,” Salmah 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, better known as Jho Low.
Salmah, who is Ambank’s treasury operation department vice-president, was reading her witness statement during examination-in-chief by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Mustafa P. Kunyalam here in the 1MDB trial involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday.
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 recipient for two transactions.
“This letter was also an instruction by PSI to 1MDB to retain the current account number of 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, 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 should be ‘account 11116073.2000’ and not PSI.
The letter also stated that the account (11116073.2000) had received US$30mil and US$65mil.
