AmBank Group says will 'vigorously oppose' Najib's suit

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group) and its subsidiary AmBank Islamic Bhd have appointed solicitors to fight the suit filed by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, in relation to the handling of his current accounts with AmBank Islamic.

In a stock exchange filing today, the bank confirmed it has been served with a writ and statement of claim by Najib on Monday (Dec 9), and that Najib is seeking damages in relation to the conduct of his accounts.

“Both AMMB and AmBank Islamic have appointed solicitors to defend the suit and have been advised by solicitors that the allegations are not sustainable and AmBank Islamic and the company have a strong defence.

“AMMB and AmBank Islamic will vigorously oppose the action,” the banking group said.

It added that the suit will not have any material impact on its operations.

theedgemarkets.com reported this afternoon that Najib is suing the banking group and AmBank Islamic, as well as former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping, over what he claimed were the dealings that were undertaken via his accounts which ended with the numbers 694, 880, 898 and 906, without his knowledge or consent.

These accounts were alleged to have been used to divert funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd, where Najib is facing graft and power abuse charges for the siphoning off of RM42 million from the former 1MDB subsidiary.

In the court document filed and sighted by theedgemarkets, Najib claimed the defendants had breached their duties and were negligent in the affairs relating to the accounts, as the parties had liaised with fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, an unauthorised third party.

The suit also claimed  the bank had failed to notify the former premier of the activities of the account, despite the accounts going into overdrawn positions more than 30 times.

AMMB rose five sen or 1.31% to RM3.87 today, bringing a market capitalisation of RM11.66 billion.

The Edge is reporting the proceedings of the SRC trial live.

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