KUALA LUMPUR – Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan concluded his testimony in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.3 billion 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) graft trial today.
As the 47th prosecution witness, Adam Ariff, 29, concluded that the disbursement of the funds raised by 1MDB and its related companies were transferred through the banking system of multiple foreign jurisdictions between September 2009 and December 2014.
A portion of the proceeds from 1MDB and its related companies were then subsequently transferred back into Najib’s two accounts at AmIslamic.
The witness also said that the funds raised by 1MDB and its related companies were identified and the disbursement of its proceeds was segregated into four phases namely “Good Star”, “Aabar-BVI”, “Tanore” and “Options Buyback”.
For the “Good Star” phase, a total of RM60,629,839.43 transferred into Najib’s private account from a Riyad Bank account in Saudi Arabia between February 23 and June 14, 2011 were “traceable” to a RM5 billion Islamic bond or Islamic medium-term notes issued in May 2009 by 1MDB’s predecessor Terengganu Investment Authority Bhd (TIA) and a RM2.5 billion loan which 1MDB took on in 2010.
As for the second phase – where RM90,899,927.28 were transferred from Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners’s Standard Chartered Bank account in Singapore to Najib’s account between October 30 and November 20, 2012 – Adam Ariff said these were found to be “traceable” to 1MDB’s subsidiary 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd’s bond issued in 2012.
For the third phase – where RM2,081,476,926 were transferred from Tanore Finance Corporation’s Falcon Private Bank account in Singapore to Najibss account between March 21 to April 10, 2013 – Adam Ariff also said these were traceable to 1MDB’s subsidiary 1MDB Global Investment Ltd’s US$3 billion bond issued in 2013.
For the fourth phase, Adam Ariff said the RM4,093,500 were transferred from Blackrock Commodities (Global) Limited’s DBS Bank in Singapore account to Najib’s account in one single transaction on June 23, 2014 could be traced back to a US$250 million loan borrowed by 1MDB’s subsidiary 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd (1MEHL) in 2014.
Also under the fourth phase, Adam Ariff said RM45,837,485.70 transferred from Vista Equity International Partners Ltd’s Amicorp Bank in Barbados to Najib’s account between October 23 to December 19, 2014, were “partially traceable” to a US$975 million loan borrowed by 1MEHL in 2014.
“Based on banking documents and information obtained from the investigation officer, it was found that the specified funds received by Najib in his two personal accounts at AmIslamic Bank, are traceable to the proceeds raised by 1MDB and its related companies,” confirmed the witness.
Tomorrow, Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is expected to cross-examine Adam Ariff.
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 trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow. – October 9, 2023