Najib-SRC-Trial: Managing Director did not know account belonged to Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd (IPSB) managing director Datuk Dr Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman only knew that he had deposited RM42 million into Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s private accounts when told about it by the investigators, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today, Tuesday May 28, 2019.

Shamsul Anwar testified before Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali that he was informed about the identity of the Ambank private accounts’ holder when he was remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in July 2015.

“I never knew the account holder was Datuk Seri Najib. I only got to know about it when told by the MACC when I was remanded for five days.”

Shamsul Anwar was testifying as the prosecution’s 37th witness at the trial of former Prime Minister Najib, who was also the former Finance Minister 1.

Najib currently faces 7 charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering pertaining to an alleged misappropriation of RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, an ex-subsidiary of the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB).

During his earlier testimony a fortnight ago on Wednesday May 15, Shamsul Anwar testified that the RM42 million was transferred in three tranches of payments from IPSB’s account in Affin Bank on Dec 26, 2014 and Feb 10, 2015 to Najib’s private accounts.

Najib’s accounts were managed by then SRC International chief executive officer (CEO) Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.

Sums of RM27 million and RM5 million were transferred into Najib’s accounts in 2014 and the balance RM10 million was transferred in 2015, totalling RM42 million.

Shamsul Anwar testified that he was directed to transfer the RM42 million into Najib’s accounts, unwittingly though, on the directives of two other individuals – Ung Su Ling and Dennis See Thuan Buan.

He said he never received any directive from neither Najib nor SRC International to transfer the money.

Ung is the chief executive officer (CEO) of a separate entity, Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia’s (YR1M), while Dennis See is YR1M project director.

Shamsul Anwar revealed that he received Ung’s directive via an email while Dennis See personally gave the directive to him.

“Dennis See came to my office and asked me to ‘pinjam’ (lend) Ihsan Perdana’s account as a transit to transfer the money,” said Shamsul Anwar, adding that neither Dennis See nor Ung informed him about the identity of the accounts’ holder then.

“They (Ung and Dennis See) were my funders. So I was obligated to follow their instructions.”

IPSB was set up in 2011 to undertake corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects under the 1MDB.

IPSB was set up under the instruction of former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.

Shamsul Anwar, who was previously a 1MDB director in charge of CSR programmes, was appointed as IPSB managing director.

He testified that when IPSP was incorporated, there was a written assurance that a grant of RM250 million would be given by SRC International to IPSB.

But, he said the “grant never came. Neither IPSB received any other money from SRC International.”

He testified that he and Najib, though had close ties, never had communicated with each other on the RM42 million fund.

“None. Never,” replied Shamsul Anwar when asked by the defence on whether Najib had instructed him to transfer the money.

When asked on what action he would have taken if he had known beforehand that the accounts belonged to Najib before transferring the RM42 million, he replied that: “I would asked, clarified with him first.”

One shall recall that Shamsul Anwar was the co-accused on a leaked corruption charge sheet allegedly prepared by a special task force headed by then Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail against Najib in 2015.

The charge sheet was first published by British mercenary Clare Rewcastle Brown’s blog – Sarawak Report, in 2015.

The charge sheet was later dismissed as fake by the AG Chambers then. – NTHQiBord, 28 Mei 2019.

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