KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1): Day 46 of the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial will see Datuk Seri Najib Razak's defence team continue to interrogate 54th prosecution witness Joanna Yu (pictured), the former relationship manager at AmBank who handled accounts belonging to the former premier.
During her testimony yesterday, she told the High Court how fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, had warned her to never let cheques issued from Najib's accounts bounce under any circumstance.
This had led her to possibly advance RM55,000 out of her own pocket to cover the deficit in one of Najib's accounts so that a cheque issued to property developer Tan Sri Lim Soon Peng could be cleared.
Meanwhile, she also drafted emails on behalf of Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, mandate holder for some of the ex-prime minister's account and former CEO and managing director of SRC, addressed to her colleagues to ensure that other cheques would not bounce.
Despite Low's warnings to Yu, he and Nik Faisal would allow the accounts to be constantly overdrawn and continue to issue cheques despite the insufficient balances in these accounts, prompting the witness to tell them off.
They would then replenish the accounts through huge over-the-counter cash transfers, which Yu had warned could trigger money-laundering alerts.
Yu has faced an aggressive line of questioning by lawyer Harvinderjit Singh for close to a week now.
When asked by High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali about whether Yu’s cross-examination can be completed today, Harvinderjit said he has tried to expedite the session but he ‘could not get the answers he wanted’ from Yu.
A brief exchange with reporters outside the courtroom a few days ago also revealed that Harvinderjit may take ‘a few more days’ to question Yu until ‘the truth comes out’ from the manager who managed Najib’s AmBank accounts, as well as several other accounts linked to SRC and its subsidiary and partners.
Najib is facing seven charges — three for criminal breach of trust, one for abuse of power and three for money laundering with regard to RM42 million SRC funds.
The Edge is bringing the trial involving Malaysia’s former highest-ranking politician who led the country for nine years live.