Jho Low used the abbreviation ‘OP’ to refer to Najib in his BlackBerry Messenger chat

by BERNAMA / pic by TMR FILE

INFAMOUS fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, has dubbed the former prime minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak (picture), as “Optimus Prime”, the main character and a chivalric sentient being in the Transformers movies, by using the abbreviation of OP.

Former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping, 48, said Jho Low used the abbreviation to refer to Najib in his BlackBerry Messenger chat when both of them were talking about three transactions in Najib’s personal account.

Yu was questioned by deputy public prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram pertaining to their conversation that OP might close his account in December.

Sithambaran: In the conversation, Jho Low said to you, “Tell him, OP said they are likely to close the account in December.”

Yu: Ashok (former AmBank MD Ashok Ramamurthy) wants to update report.

Sithambaran: Jho Low then said, “Crazy. Tell him OP said they are likely to close the account in December.” What is OP?

Yu: I recalled asking, and I was told that it is an acronym for Optimus Prime. Sithambaran: Who is OP here?

Yu: I took it to mean Datuk Seri Najib.

Sithambaran then said, as far as he was concerned, Optimus Prime was the leader in the Transformers movies, which drew laughter from the court.

Meanwhile, Yu told the court that over RM606.51 million was deposited and spent by Najib involving his three bank accounts over a period of three years from 2015.

According to the bank documents tendered in court, the credited amount into the accounts came up to precisely RM606,510,434.66.

The three current accounts were AmBank accounts with the numbers 2112022011-898, 2112022011-906 and 2112022011-880.

Sithambaram: Looking at the total, the total standing in the three accounts, both credit and debit, is RM606,510,434.66.

Yu: Yes.

The bank statements showed that the breakdown of amount credited were RM109,344,315.26 (account-898), RM205,200,913.36 (account-906) and RM292,365,208.07 (account-880).

When asked if the account holder knew of the sums being transacted into the accounts based on her perspective as a banker and the bank statements, Yu said “Yes”.

The court also heard that Najib had received a total of RM212,367,697.57 of foreign monies during the same period of time.

Separately, Bernama reported that it was impossible for Najib to utilise the money in his accounts if he had no knowledge of it having been deposited into the accounts.

Yu said the accused — as the account holder — should know what happened with his accounts, especially when he issued some cheques.

Najib, 66, is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust, one count of abusing his position and three counts of money laundering involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds amounting to RM42 million. — Bernama