KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here Tuesday (Feb 10) was told that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was at all times aware of the state of his personal Ambank accounts and actively used them for the issuance of cheques.
Former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping, 54, said fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, had on several occasions liaised with her through BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) chats to check whether Najib's bank account was overdrawn.
Yu said this during re-examination by SRC International Sdn Bhd counsel Kwan Will Sen in the RM42mil civil suit filed by SRC and its subsidiary, Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd, against the former premier.
Kwan: I refer to you a BBM message from Jho Low, it says "Please check if Ambank acc is overdrawn, boss said he wrote a big cheque". The word "boss" here is referring to the defendant (Najib), isn't it?
Yu: I believe so.
Kwan: The word "boss", as you understood it, referred to the defendant, and you had earlier testified that only he could sign off on any cheques. Can it therefore be inferred that the defendant was aware of and relied on these accounts for the purpose of issuing cheques?
Yu: Yes.
Kwan: And Jho Low's messages to you were coming from the defendant asking to ensure there were sufficient funds in his accounts.
Yu: Yes
Yu also agreed with Kwan's suggestion that Najib had essentially directed or requested Jho Low to contact her to ensure his credit card transactions went through.
When it was put to her that this showed the defendant was fully aware of the affairs of his accounts and was in fact expensing from them, Yu said, "Yes".
Meanwhile, during re-examination by Najib's counsel Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, Yu agreed that throughout her tenure as the relationship manager for Najib's accounts from 2011 to 2015, she believed the monies credited into the accounts were donation funds as represented by Jho Low.
"Yes, from the incoming funds, I believed they were donation monies as represented by Jho Low, but later, I didn't know what to think; it was just the cash deposits over the counter.
"Other than the cash deposits, we accepted the remittances in good faith based on supporting letters claiming the funds were donations," she explained.
The 2021 civil suit, filed by SRC and Gandingan Mentari, seeks a declaration that Najib is liable for the RM42mil, as well as damages for knowing receipt, dishonest assistance, misfeasance in public office, and abuse of power.
The hearing before Justice Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan continues Wednesday (Feb 11). - Bernama
