'Najib concerned after media broke story about firm formed by fugitive Jho Low'
Published on: Monday, April 17, 2023
By:
FMT, Ho Kit Yen
.jpg "'Najib concerned after media broke story about firm formed by fugitive Jho Low'")
Private bank BSI stopped asking questions during the account opening process after it was ‘threatened by Jho Low’, a witness tells the High Court.
Kuala Lumpur: An ex-banker told the High Court in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial that the former prime minister must have been concerned about the company’s US$2.3 billion (RM10.1 billion) “investment” via a Cayman Island fund manager.
Kevin Swampillai, who worked for BSI between 2010 and 2016, said that sometime in 2014 his then colleague, Yak Yew Chee, informed him that Najib wanted to speak to the fund manager.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yak said he was asked to arrange for a video conference call and to sit in on it.
He said at the time, Sarawak Report had begun to report about Brazen Sky Ltd, a company set up by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (commonly known as Jho Low) in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
“There was a lot of speculation about (the purpose of) 1MDB’s investment.
“Given the extent of media coverage, I think he was concerned,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Swampillai told the court that the conference call suffered from a bad connection as the person Najib spoke to, Lobo Lee, was travelling while speaking on the phone. As a result, he said he could not hear Lee and Najib well.
The court had previously heard that 1MDB’s auditors from KPMG had probed the company on the US$2.3 billion investment in 2013.
ADVERTISEMENT
KPMG had refused to sign off the accounts that year, prompting 1MDB to appoint Deloitte in their place.
Besides that, Swampillai said 1MDB’s action in opening a bank account with BSI in 2011 was already seen as a “red flag”.
He added that a government entity like 1MDB would normally open accounts with a commercial or investment bank and not a private bank like BSI, which catered to high-net-worth individuals.
He said the account went through a lengthy approval process.
Swampillai said BSI had asked questions but did not receive the necessary answers.
“At some point, BSI stopped asking questions after the bank was threatened by Jho Low,” Swampillai said.
The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Tuesday.
Najib is facing 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
