‘I did not collude with MACC’

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan colluded with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) when he made his report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) money trails, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah claimed at the High Court here.

The lead counsel of Datuk Seri Najib Razak made the allegation at the latter’s trial over the misappropriation of 1MDB’s RM2.3bil, a sum said to have entered the former prime minister’s personal bank accounts.

Adam Ariff, however, denied that he had “colluded” with the MACC when preparing a money trail report showing the flow of 1MDB funds into Najib’s bank accounts.

The 47th prosecution witness said he was seconded to the anti-graft agency to assist it in tracing funds originating from 1MDB.

He insisted that the funds ended up in Najib’s bank accounts, and denied that MACC investigating officer Nur Aida Arifin had told him to “lie” in his report.

Muhammad Shafee also suggested that Adam Ariff’s secondment to the MACC since 2018 had made it difficult for him to stay impartial in conducting his analysis.

Muhammad Shafee: From 2018 until now, I’m putting it to you that you have become MACC, your mentality has become MACC, and you have not remained independent.

Adam Ariff: I disagree.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Muhammad Shafee also repeatedly tried to challenge Adam Ariff’s report on the trail of the billions of ringgit which were said to have entered Najib’s private bank accounts in AmBank.

He suggested that Adam Ariff lacked all the necessary bank documents to prove that all these funds in Najib’s accounts could be traced back to 1MDB and its subsidiaries.

However, Adam Ariff disagreed.

“All the bank documents which he (Najib) had referred to in the 1MDB trial were sufficient to show that money belonging to 1MDB or its subsidiaries had ended up in his private bank accounts,” said the witness.

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

The trial before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Dec 15. — Bernama