Jho Low-linked company transferred US$15mil of SRC funds to several parties, court hears

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has been told that a company linked to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, which received US$15mil from SRC BVI, transferred out the funds to several prominent individuals.

Reading out her written witness statement, Quantuma International managing director Angela Barkhouse, who is also an offshore asset recovery specialist, said the company namely Muraset Limited, received the monies on Dec 27, 2011 and US$40,000 was transferred out to Battushig Batbold, the son of Mongolia former premier Sükhbaataryn Batbold.

According to Barkhouse, her research revealed that apart from Battushig Batbold, Dash Uranbileg who is believed to be a politician in the same country (Mongolia) received US$2mil from Muraset.

"US$4.5mil was transferred to the director of Muraset namely Cheong Choo Young, a reported proxy of Batbold while his spouse Kim Hak Seon received US$1.4mil. The business of Muraset is however, unknown," she said.

The woman said this while testifying online from British Virgin Island during SRC International Sdn Bhd's US$1.18bil lawsuit against Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak before Judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.

Barkhouse, who testified as the second witness in the trial added initially Muraset received funds from SRC BVI as payment for three million shares in Gobi Coal Energy Limited in Mongolia where Gobi Coal held rights to two large open-cut mines in Mongolia.

"While this appears to be a transaction made in accordance with investment into the energy and resources sector, the acquisition was conducted in a less than straightforward manner.

"There seems little commercial sense in the transfers to Muraset or Gobi Coal. No basis for this payment has been identified and indicates that this was a mechanism to divert funds belonging to SRC International," said Barkhouse.

SRC, under its new management, filed the suit in May 2021, claiming that Najib had committed a breach of trust and power abuse, personally benefited from the company's funds, and misappropriated the said funds.

The company is seeking general, exemplary and additional damages, as well as interest, costs and other appropriate relief provided by the court.

It is also seeking a court declaration that Najib is responsible for the company's losses due to his breach of duties and trust and that they demand Najib to pay back the RM42mil in losses they suffered.

Najib, 70, has been serving a jail sentence at the Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of misappropriating RM42mil in SRC International funds.

He then filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, and the Pardons Board on Jan 29 reduced Najib's jail term from 12 years to six years and the fine was cut to RM50mil from RM210mil.

The trial continues on Wednesday (March 13). – Bernama