News by Adam Aziz

This was revealed by appointed public prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram during the re-examination of 54th prosecution witness Joanna Yu, the former AmBank relationship manager who was Low Taek Jho's go-to person in the bank when it comes to the management of accounts belonging to Najib and SRC International Sdn Bhd.

"Who is OP?" asked Sithambaram.

Yu replied: "To my understanding OP was a term — Optimus Prime, I don't know — to refer to the Prime Minister."

The BBM transcript showed an exchange between Yu and Jho Low, where Yu tweaked the date of the instruction letter from Dec 24, 2014 to Dec 29, 2014.

This was to reverse transactions worth RM32 million.

Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his wife, his brother and two others have applied to strike out the RM52.6 million civil suit filed against them by businessman Deepak Jaikishan claiming conspiracy and fraud.

Umno Pekan committee member Ibrahim Awang Ismail, from whom the anti-graft agency has claimed RM100,000, filed a first representation on July 16 to settle half of that value.

The transactions were attempted via bank drafts instead of digital transfers to avoid revealing that the funds came from the Minister of Finance Inc company, according to chat transcripts from the phone belonging to former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu.

Yu’s Blackberry Messenger chat showed that in 2015, she had told Nik Faisal, then the chief executive officer and managing director of SRC International Sdn Bhd, what to say in his email replies to Yu’s colleagues Krystale Yap and Daniel Lee and other AmBank employees.

“I am not sure who is the bigger boss,” Yu quipped, to the amusement of those present in the court room — including Najib himself, who appeared to be shaking with laughter upon hearing Yu’s statement. 

Umno is contesting the forfeiture suit filed against it by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on funds allegedly siphoned from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).