KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — A former special officer to Datuk Seri Najib Razak said fugitive financier Low Taek Jho gave him US$200,000 as a bridging loan for a home purchase in Kota Damansara in 2010, the High Court heard today.
Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin revealed during cross-examination in Najib’s main 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption trial today that he had approached several people for the funds but only Low or Jho Low had been willing to provide it to him.
Amhari told defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that sum, which had been the equivalent of RM600,000 at the time, had been transferred directly into his Maybank account from Alsen Chance Holdings Limited that he said was owned by Low.
Shafee: In what context did you get the US$200,000 from Jho Low? Not in a political context, I hope?
Amhari: I had asked many people for a loan, and he (Low) volunteered to give me the loan.
Shafee: You tried to get the US$200,000 from Bank Negara Malaysia, correct?
Amhari: I couldn’t. I was not eligible.
Shafee: You asked Jho Low to lend the US$200,000 for what purpose?
Amhari: I got the loan to temporarily bridge another loan while I tried to sell my old house when I wanted to buy a new house. It was to sell off the house number 11 and buy house number 29.
The former aide then revealed that he still has not repaid the loan.
He then agreed with Shafee’s suggestion that Low was a good lender since he was not hounded for a repayment.
“I told him I can transfer the house to have it under his name, to transfer the ownership.
“But he told me,’take your time, don’t worry’,” Amhari said referring to Low.
Amhari explained that he had initially planned to repay the loan by selling one of the properties, with a portion of the proceeds from the sale to be used to settle the loan.
He also told Shafee that there was no agreement drafted for the loan, something Low had said there was no need for.
.jpg)
“He said there was no need for it, but also said he would send over bank documents related to the transaction,” he told Shafee.
Shafee: Don’t you think a loan agreement for US$200,000 is something you should do to save yourself? Why didn’t you make one?
Amhari: I didn’t do an agreement as it’s not easy to persuade Jho Low to do these kinds of things, so I followed as he said.
Amhari also testified that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigators were aware of this loan from Low, but disagreed with Shafee that it was used as leverage to get him to testify as a witness in this trial.
Amhari then confirmed with Shafee the other properties that he owned, which included two studio apartments in Johor, and family inheritance in Sarawak.
In this trial, Najib is facing four counts of abusing his position for his own financial benefit totalling almost RM2.3 billion from the sovereign investment fund and the resulting 21 counts of money-laundering.
The trial resumes on Tuesday morning before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
