US$681mil in Najib's accounts were from illegal activities, says witness

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here on Wednesday (Oct 18) was told that the US$681mil (RM3.23bil) which entered into Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s bank account in 2013 was proceeds from illegal activities.

Anti-Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division assistant director ACP Foo Wei Min said that based on his investigations, the US$681mil originated from 1MDB's US$3bil (RM14.23bil) bond raised was entered into Najib's Ambank account ending 694 between March 22 and April 10, 2013.

The 48th prosecution witness also said that before the US$681 million was deposited, Najib's account had an outstanding balance of RM879.8mil, which the witness said had originated from a ‘legitimate source’.

The 47-year-old witness said he used the ‘First In, First Out’ (FIFO) investigation method to determine whether the funds in Najib's account were illicit or clean.

At the end of today’s proceedings before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib told the court that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Investigating Officer, Senior Superintendent Nur Aida Arifin would be the next witness. However, they could not call her as they have yet to serve the defence with the witness statement.

"Apart from that, the prosecution is still waiting for Wednesday's document to be fully tendered in court and included in the IO's statement before serving it to the defence.

"The prosecution was almost at the end of the case. The defence has yet to finish their cross-examination on several witnesses, namely the former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz and BNM analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan,” said the prosecutor.

Judge Sequerah: No other witnesses?

Ahmad Akram: That would be our last witness, Your Honour.

Judge Sequerah: Then you’ll close the case?

Another DPP, Kamal Baharin Omar, answered: At this stage, yes, Your Honour, unless and until something else comes up.

Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial continues on Oct 24.- Bernama