KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — The High Court is to hear on April 15 the application by former AmBank Relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping to strike out a suit filed by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak against her for alleged mismanagement of his bank accounts.

Justice Datuk Khadijah Idris set the date during case management in chambers in the presence of counsel Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar, representing Yu, and counsel Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, representing Najib.

Muhammad Farhan, when approached by reporters, said Justice Khadijah also ordered the first and second defendants, AmBank and AMMB Holdings Berhad, to file a similar application by March 2 if the two parties intended to do so.

He said the court has set December 14 to 17 as trial dates for Najib’s suit.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, Gurdial said the court allowed Yu, as the third defendant, to delay filing her defence to Najib’s suit until her application to strike out the suit have been heard by the court.

“We have said that we need not file defence until the striking out application (is heard) because we feel that there is no course of action for him (Najib) to proceed (with the suit) in the first place.

“So the court has agreed with us that as far as Yu is concerned, she need not file a defence until the disposal of the striking out application,” he said.

Advertisement

Najib, through Messrs Shafee & Co, had filed the suit on December 9 last year at the High Court and named AmBank, AMMB Holdings Berhad and Yu as the defendants.

According to the statement of claim, the plaintiff claimed AmBank and Yu had committed negligence when handling his bank accounts (ending with 694, 880, 898 and 906) by disclosing it to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.

Najib claimed that the defendants without authorisation had disclosed his bank statements, debit and credit remittance transactions, and balances of funds of account 694 to Low as the third party.

Najib claimed that the defendants did not engage with him to report on Low’s action regarding the said bank account and that the bank had facilitated unauthorised third party to make money transfers between accounts 880, 898 and 906.

The Pekan member of Parliament contended that he had been kept in the dark on the details of his own bank accounts statements and other related documents by the bank under Low’s instruction.

He alleged that Low with the help of other unauthorised third parties, had made 20 transactions to regularise the accounts totalling RM12 million through several local and foreign remittances of funds and that the accounts had been ‘red-flagged’ by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

The former prime minister said the defendants failed to report and get direct instructions from him despite the accounts being red-flagged.

Najib also claimed that he only discovered the act committed by the defendants during the SRC International trial after the prosecution had revealed the conversations between Yu and third parties.

He is seeking special, general, aggravated and exemplary damages from the defendants. — Bernama