KUALA LUMPUR: A Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) analyst testified in the High Court on Tuesday (Sept 19) that a personal account owned by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak received US$30mil from a shell company called Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners, which was allegedly set up by fugitive businessman Jho Low. According to Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan, on Oct 30, 2012, a sum of US$5mil was transferred, followed by another US$25mil on Nov 19 of the same year.
BNM analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan“Standard Chartered Bank’s records for Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners confirmed that the beneficiary account for both transfers was account number ‘2112022009694’ held under the name ‘AmPrivate Banking – MR’ with AmIslamic.
“An examination of the bank statement and records dated Oct 31, 2012, and Nov 20, 2012, for the account number 2112022009694 maintained in the name of ‘’AmPrivate Banking – MR and/or Datuk Seri Mohd Najib And Razak’ provided by AmIslamic, matched the transfers,” said Adam Ariff. He disclosed this information while verifying the money trail report during Najib’s trial for the alleged misappropriation of RM2.3bil of 1MDB funds.
Jho Low, the mastermind behind multiple offshore shell companies, including Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners, deliberately used naming conventions that resembled well-established companies like Blackstone Real Estate. This was part of his conspiracy to siphon millions of dollars from 1MDB.
Prior to this, Adam Ariff confirmed that the RM60.6mil received by Najib in his personal bank account in February and June 2011 originated from Islamic medium-term notes (IMTN) bonds issued in 2009 by the predecessor of 1MDB, Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which later became 1MDB.
During the trial on Aug 28, 2019, the prosecution pledged to demonstrate that multiple transactions involving 1MDB funds were transferred to Najib’s accounts, including US$20mil or over RM60mil in the first phase and US$30mil or over RM90mil in the second phase. The prosecution further alleged that US$681mil or over RM2bil had been transferred in the third phase and that transactions in British pounds amounted to a combined total of over RM49mil during the fourth phase.
Najib appeared in the courtroom wearing a suit and tie, accompanied by a few supporters in the public gallery. He is facing four charges of bribery involving RM2.3bil belonging to 1MDB and 21 charges of money laundering related to the same amount. The trial, presided over by Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, will continue. – Bernama
Credit: The Star : News Feed
