Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court July 15, 2019. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s two credit cards of platinum status were previously used to pay for over RM593,000 at luxury fashion brand Chanel’s Honolulu outlet and for the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok, the High Court heard today
AmBank’s senior vice-president Yeoh Eng Leong confirmed today that Najib had a Visa Platinum credit card and Mastercard Platinum credit card issued under his name at the bank.
Referring to a credit card statement dated January 8, 2015, Yeoh confirmed the two transactions in 2014 and 2015.
“For Ambank Visa Platinum card, usage on December 22, 2014 at Chanel, Honolulu, US for US$130,625, which is equivalent to RM466,330.11,” he said, referring to the converted figure based on currency exchange rates then.
“For Mastercard, transaction on January 4, 2015 at Shangri-la Hotel, Bangkok for RM127,017.46,” added Yeoh, who is senior president of credit card authorisation and fraud management at Ambank.
Yeoh said that payment was made from Ambank accounts both on February 2, 2015 for RM466,330.11 for the Visa Platinum card and for RM127,017.46 for the Mastercard Platinum card.
The Ambank account 2112022011880 cited as having paid off the outstanding amounts is an account opened under Najib’s name.
During Yeoh’s testimony, deputy public prosecutor Budiman Lutfi Mohamed asked: “On usage of these cards, do you know if there were any complaints of unlawful usage by cardholder Datuk Seri Najib?”
Yeoh then replied: “So far, based on our records, we don’t have any complaints or disputes.”
Yeoh, 58, is the prosecution’s 47th witness in Najib’s ongoing trial on alleged abuse of position, money-laundering and criminal breach of trust over RM42 million of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
At the start of the trial, Attorney General Tommy Thomas had, among other things, said that evidence would show that Najib’s credit card was charged US$130,625 (RM539,176) for expenses made at exclusive fashion store Chanel in Honolulu in the US.
The trial before High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali resumes at 2.30pm.
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