KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — A former AmBank relationship manager in charge of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts revealed that Low Taek Jho had sought to recruit her for SRC International Sdn Bhd with jobs paying up to RM60,000 monthly in 2013.
The prosecution’s 54th witness, Joanna Yu Ging Ping testified that Low ― also known as Jho Low ― had approached her to inquire if she knew any good finance officers as he wanted to hire them for SRC International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB).
According to Yu’s reply, she declined Low’s offer and said she would inform him if she came across anyone who was suitable.
She earlier confirmed a BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) conversation between her and Low on the same matter from November 24, 2013, which was shown in court during cross-examination by Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh.
Harvinderjit: He (Low) then asked, “Can I hire Daniel?”
Yu: I think he wanted to hire all of us.
Harvinderjit: He offered you all jobs?
Yu: Yes, he did offer us jobs and we said no.
Harvinderjit: It’s quite lucrative, RM60,000 a month?
Yu: Yes, but we didn’t want to work with them.
Yu previously told the court that Daniel Lee and another individual, Krystle Yap, were known colleagues who worked as relationship managers together with her in AmBank during that period.
According to her testimony, Yu said she had met with Low when she began managing 1MDB’s accounts since 2010 after the company became the bank’s corporate client.
Following Low’s unsuccessful attempt to woo her into working for SRC International, Yu remained employed at AmBank in her existing position as the executive vice president of Wholesale Banking Coverage up till the end of 2015.
Despite rejecting the offer, both Yu and Low remained in communication as BBM conversations between them produced in court revealed how instructions came from Low on the management of Najib’s personal AmBank accounts, and not its mandated trustee SRC International former chief executive Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
Najib, who is also Pekan MP, is currently on trial for alleged abuse of position, money-laundering and criminal breach of trust over RM42 million of funds from SRC International.
The hearing before High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali resumes on August 5.
