Najib once spent almost RM100,000 during hotel stay in Italy, court hears

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here on Tuesday (Sept 6) was told that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had two credit cards with a combined limit of RM3mil, believed to be one of the highest credit limits ever given by AmBank.

Former vice-president of AmBank’s retail banking fraud management and authorisation department, Yeoh Eng Leong, 61, said Najib had spent RM103,948.63 with the two cards, AmBank Visa Platinum card ending 496 and Mastercard Platinum ending 961.

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"The average customer had a RM50,000 credit limit per card but for Datuk Seri Najib, the bank had given him the RM3mil limit for both cards.

"I believe these combined limits are one of the highest credit limits given by AmBank. The cards were both cancelled in March 2015,” he said during the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor, Nadia Mohd Izhar at the Pekan MP’s trial over the misappropriation of RM2.3bil in funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

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Further questioned by Nadia, the 35th prosecution said among the transactions made by Najib were at a hotel in Italy, The Westin Excelsior R Roma on July 21, 2011 for a sum of RM98,013.63.

"Other transactions were made at the Aigner (RM4,145) and Hugo Boss (RM1,790) boutiques in Suria KLCC on Aug 21, 2011.

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"On Aug 30, 2011, Datuk Seri Najib received a tax-free refund of RM2,190.68 from the United Kingdom,” he said.

During cross-examination by Najib’s lawyer, Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed, Yeoh said normally the bank would award the credit limit to customers based on their income capacity.

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Wan Aizuddin: Will the bank look at the criteria of whether he’s a corporate figure or a head of government in considering the credit limit to be given? What if a customer is a long-standing customer of the bank?

Yeoh: No. The bank will only look into other banking facilities the customer has utilised. Not really the tenure (of how long the customer has been with the bank).

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Najib, 69, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3bil from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Wednesday (Sept 7).- Bernama