KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 4): The High Court here was told on Tuesday (Oct 4) that a RM1 million cheque addressed to former Johor Baru member of Parliament Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad was accepted by a bank and the fund was transferred into his bank account even though it did not match the name of the account.

Public Bank customer relationship manager Mohd Farid M Alnafiah said when Shahrir opened the Public Bank Islamic account ending with final three digits "101", the registered name was Sharil @ Shahrir Ab Samad.

The account, Mohd Farid said, is a joint one that Shahrir shares with his wife Puan Sri Shahrizan Abdullah.

Mohd Farid, 40, who is the prosecution's 20th witness, said AmBank cheque 000089 bearing the name Shahril Abdul Samad was deposited on Nov 27, 2013.

Subsequent to the deposit, 10 other payments and withdrawals were made from the Public Bank Islamic account with final three digits "101" between Dec 2, 2013 and March 31, 2014, he added.

Among them, RM200,000 was withdrawn from the joint account to Shahrizan's fixed deposit account and a sum of RM118,485 was transferred to Sutera Auto Sdn Bhd for the purchase of a Honda Civic Hybrid on Dec 21, 2013.

When asked by defence counsel Datuk Syed Faisal Al-Edros Syed Abdullah Al-Edros, Mohd Farid admitted that the name on the cheque, Shahril Abdul Samad, was different from the one in their records but the bank nevertheless accepted the deposit of RM1 million.

He had earlier told the court that normally when the bank noticed such discrepancy, it would not accept the cheque. However, in this case, the issuance of the cheque did not raise any red flag.

Although Mohd Farid said he did not know who issued the RM1 million cheque and what the purpose was, previous testimonies and evidence showed that the AmBank cheque issued from the 906 account belonged to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Later during re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Natrah Fareha Rahmat, Mohd Farid again admitted the discrepancy in the spelling of the name on the cheque and despite this, the bank accepted it.

Mohd Farid said normally it is the issuer of the cheque and the recipient who would know the purpose of the funds being issued.

Replying to questions from the prosecution, he added he did not notice any suspicious transaction despite it being a large amount.

"Normally we would compare the physical cheque with the information of the registered account. If there is any deficiency or inaccuracy, the bank would reject," he said, adding that this time around the bank did not reject the cheque issued by AmBank (despite the discrepancy in spelling of the name) as Public Bank has a "Know Your Customer policy".

"Furthermore, there were also no problems raised by AmBank on the issuance of the cheque," Mohd Farid replied.

He explained further that normally cheques to the amount of RM100,000 would be scrutinised by the bank but since Shahrir was a known customer, there was no problem with the deposit.

Shahrir, 72, is in the dock facing trial for money laundering, by not stating his real income in the income tax return form for the assessment year 2013, which is a violation of Section 113(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967, on the RM1 million amount, believed to be from unlawful activities, which he received from Najib through a cheque.

He is charged with committing the offence at LHDN, Duta branch, Government Office Complex, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim on April 25, 2014 under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which provides a maximum fine of RM5 million, or imprisonment for up to five years, or both if found guilty.

While the prosecution was focusing on the transactions made by Shahrir, also a former Felda chairman, after receiving the RM1 million cheque to prove the money laundering charge, the defence on the other hand was focusing on transactions before the amount was received.

The prosecution tried to show the expenses and payments made by Shahrir in receiving the cheque and cited the 10 transactions and issuance of cheque payment.

All of the transactions cited by Mohd Farid were explained by earlier prosecution witnesses who had testified and these included payment to contractors, the purchase of the Honda vehicle, payment to an auto company and also payment to an Umno branch in Johor Bahru.

Out of the RM1 million received, a total of RM997,285 was spent in the 10 transactions.

Mohd Farid also told the court that prior to receiving the RM1 million cheque, Shahrir's joint account balance was RM82,324.96.

Meanwhile, Syed Faisal asked Mohd Farid to look at transactions from Jan 9, 2013 to prior receiving the RM1 million cheque.

The Public Bank officer said he noticed there were a lot of transactions and issuances of cheques from the joint account, but he could not say whether they were for the purpose of Umno Johor Bahru or to pay for repairs on the Puri Langkasuka project which had been revitalised.

Earlier, witnesses had testified that part of the RM1 million was used to pay for development works on Puri Langkasuka.

Syed Faisal asked Mohd Farid to calculate how much total funds were issued from the joint account in the transactions and the bank officer said the amount was more than RM2.59 million.

On whether the RM1 million could have been to compensate for these payments, Mohd Farid said he does not know as it would depend on the person giving the money and the payment made.

On whether the RM200,000 withdrawn from the joint account to be placed in a fixed deposit owned by Shahrizan was due to compensating for the advance she paid, the bank officer also said he does not have any knowledge.

The hearing before judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin continues on Wednesday (Oct 5).