RM2.28b in Najib's bank accounts traceable to 1MDB funds, witness tells court

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — The RM2.28 billion that entered former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's private bank accounts in 19 transactions from 2011 to 2014 can be traced back to funds raised and belonging to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a witness told the High Court today.

Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan, an analyst who was working in the government's task force on 1MDB, confirmed that this was his findings after analysing 343 banking documents and records.

“In summary, it was found that the specified funds received by Najib Razak in his two above said personal bank accounts at AmIslamic Bank, are traceable to the proceeds raised by 1MDB and its related companies in the four phases,” he said of the RM2.28 billion in Najib's bank accounts.

Adam Ariff is the 47th prosecution witness in Naijb's trial involving 25 charges over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds which were alleged to have entered the latter's personal bank accounts.

Testifying today, he referred to his 76-page money trail report dated July 27, 2023, which traced the sources of funds received by Najib into his two AmBank accounts which had the code names of “AmPrivate Banking-MR” and “AmPrivate Banking-1MY”.

Based on his analysis, Adam Ariff said the money trail linking the RM2.28 billion in Najib's two bank accounts could be traced and separated into four phases involving funds raised by 1MDB and its related companies.

For the total sum of RM2,282,937,678.41 or the RM2.28 billion that entered Najib's two personal bank accounts, Adam Ariff said the funds originated from 1MDB in four phases known as the “Good Star” phase, the “Aabar-BVI” phase, the “Tanore” phase, and the “Options buyback” phase.

For the first phase or “Good Star” phase, a total of RM60,629,839.43 or over RM60 million (approximately US$20 million) – which were transferred into Najib's “AmPrivate Banking-MR” 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 Berhad (TIA) and a RM2.5 billion loan which 1MDB took on in 2010.

As for the second phase, where RM90,899,927.28 or over RM90 million (approximately US$30 million) were transferred from Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners's Standard Chartered Bank account in Singapore to Najib's “AmPrivate Banking-MR” account between October 30 and November 20, 2012, Adam Ariff said these were found to be “traceable” to 1MDB's subsidiary 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited's (1MELL) bond issued in 2012.

For the third phase, where RM2,081,476,926.00 or over RM2.08 billion (approximately US$681 million) were transferred from Tanore Finance Corporation's Falcon Private Bank account in Singapore to Najib's “AmPrivate Banking-MR” account between March 21 to April 10, 2013, Adam Ariff also said these were traceable to 1MDB's subsidiary 1MDB Global Investment Limited's (1GIL) US$3 billion bond issued in 2013.

For the fourth phase, Adam Ariff said the RM4,093,500 or over RM4 million (approximately £750,000) transferred from Blackrock Commodities (Global) Limited's DBS Bank in Singapore account to Najib's “AmPrivate Banking-1MY” 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 Limited (1MEHL) in 2014.

Also under the fourth phase, Adam Ariff said the total sum of RM45,837,485.70 or over RM45 million (approximately £8.7 million) transferred from Vista Equity International Partners Limited's Amicorp Bank in Barbados to Najib's "AmPrivate Banking-1MY" account between October 23 to December 19, 2014 were "partially traceable" to a US$975 million loan borrowed by 1MEHL in 2014.

In other words, 1MDB and its subsidiaries had taken on debts and borrowed money, and these funds were traced by Adam Ariff as being the original source of the money that had flowed into Najib's personal bank accounts.

On the first day of trial, the prosecution had said it would show that 1MDB funds had been transferred in multiple transactions to Najib’s accounts, namely US$20 million equivalent to RM60,629,839.43 or over RM60 million from the first phase, US$30 million equivalent to RM90,899,927.28 or over RM90 million (second phase), US$681 million equivalent to RM2,081,476,926 or over RM2 billion (third phase), and transactions in British pound that were equivalent to RM4,093,500 and RM45,837,485.70 or a combined total of RM49,930,985.70 million or over RM49 million (fourth phase).

Bank Negara Malaysia Analyst, Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex August 30, 2023. — Picture by Hari Anggara

Adam Ariff, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance in 2017 at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) where he was awarded the Vice Chancellor's Gold Medal Award, had started his internship the same year at Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) Financial Intelligence and Enforcement Department (FIED).

He became an associate analyst in BNM the same year, and was seconded in June 2018 to the 1MDB task force at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as an analyst. He became an analyst at BNM in 2019 and was promoted to a managerial role in 2022.

Adam Ariff said he was assigned by investigating officer Senior Superintendent Nur Aida Arifin while he was seconded to the MACC to look at the links between 1MDB funds and the money in Najib's two bank accounts.

He said that he examined the 343 banking documents between June 2018 and November 2020.

Reading out his July 2023 money trail report which gave a detailed analysis of the money which entered Najib's personal bank accounts, Adam Ariff said he had made the statements and analysis in the report in “good faith” and said these were based on information up to the date of the report “that is believed to be reliable and accurate”.

He said he relied on banking records and documents provided by the investigating officer, and that he had also consulted with the investigating officer to gather information and seek clarification on information which arose as a result of his examination of the documents.

In his money trail report, Adam Ariff also said he has “no reason to believe that there are any material facts which are misleading or have been withheld from me”.

Throughout the 1MDB trial, Najib's lawyers have sought to argue that the former finance minister believed the RM2.28 billion that flowed into his personal bank accounts were all donations from Saudi Arabia, and had attempted to support this claim using four alleged letters by a purported Saudi prince.

The four letters from the purported Saudi prince addressed to Najib are dated February 1, 2011, with a purported promise of a gift of US$100 million, followed by a November 1, 2011 letter promising a gift of US$375 million, a March 1, 2013 letter promising a gift of US$800 million and a June 1, 2014 letter promising £50 million.

The prosecution had in December 2022 insisted that Najib will not be able to use these four letters to defend himself over the RM2.28 billion as other courts had found them to be a fabrication.

Najib's 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes in the afternoon, with Adam Ariff expected to continue testifying based on his money trail report on the funds that flowed into Najib's accounts and also expected to refer to the multiple banking documents supporting his analysis.

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