Malaysia’s ex-PM Najib asked me to clear his name, says ex-central bank chief Zeti

KUALA LUMPUR - Former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz told the High Court that former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak had asked her to clear his name over the RM2.6 billion (S$770 million) in his personal bank account.

However, she said she refused to obey his request as she had no knowledge about his bank account.

“I was called to the Prime Minister’s Office. He (Najib) made a request for me to issue a statement that he had done nothing wrong in his account,” she said. “I informed him that I cannot issue such a statement because I did not have knowledge of the transactions that had occurred in his account. He accepted this decision by me.”

Ms Zeti is the 46th prosecution witness at Najib’s trial involving the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion in 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.

She said that soon after the meeting, she received a call from a minister who made the same request for her to issue such a statement, to which she gave the same answer, reported Bernama.

Ms Zeti, 76, said she had no knowledge of the RM2.6 billion remitted into Najib’s personal bank account at that time.

“Regarding the allegations made by Najib during his interview with Malaysiakini that was published on July 2, 2018, in which he claimed that I was aware of the RM2.6 billion in his account at AmIslamic Bank Berhad and that I did not raise any questions about it, I wish to unequivocally state that I had no knowledge of the transactions that were undertaken in his account at that material time.”

She said the claim made by Najib was false as she then had no knowledge that the sum of RM2.6 billion had been remitted into his account and that the funds were monies that belonged to 1MDB.

Ms Zeti said the main concern at that time was that AmBank did not report to Bank Negara more than 500 transactions relating to the account that were suspicious or irregular, as required under Malaysia’s Anti-Money Laundering Act.

When asked by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, she said that no one in her family had ever taken 1MDB money.

She also told the High Court the former group managing director of AmBank Group never mentioned any intended donations that were to be remitted into Najib’s AmBank account.

She said former AmBank managing director Cheah Tek Kuang visited her at Bank Negara on Jan 28, 2011, and informed her that Najib was opening an account with AmIslamic Bank Berhad and that his account would be referred to in a code for the Ringgit Operations Monitoring System.

“At no time during this meeting did Cheah ever mention any intended donations that were to be remitted into this account.

“Six weeks later, Cheah issued a letter dated March 22, 2011, to the (then) deputy governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus and a letter of intent was attached of a promise for a donation from one Saud Abdulaziz Majid Al Saud that was dated Feb 1, 2011, which was addressed to Najib,” she said.

“Subsequently, in a letter to Bank Negara dated June 20, 2013, Najib had sought FEA (Foreign Exchange Administration) approval to convert an amount of up to RM2.26 billion in his current account to US dollars for the purposes of returning or remitting the entire amount.

“In his letter, he declared the funds as being the unutilised sum of donations and personal gifts that he had received. In cognisance of this letter, for funds that are owned by the account holder as had been declared in the letter, no approval was required under FEA rules,” she added.

Meanwhile, Ms Zeti said the investigation paper submitted by Bank Negara to the Attorney-General’s Chambers with the recommendation to initiate criminal prosecution and to charge 1MDB, including the senior officers, was classified as “no further action”.

Despite all the damning evidence gathered and recorded by Bank Negara in the investigation paper on 1MDB, the then Attorney-General, Mr Apandi Ali, for reasons unknown, had on Sept 11, 2015, decided that the investigation paper submitted by the central bank was to be classified as “no further action”, she added.

She said the investigation paper was submitted as 1MDB and its officers were found to have contravened provisions under the Exchange Control Act 1953 for furnishing false information to Bank Negara in the 1MDB application for permission to make payments outside Malaysia.

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 STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK