Lawyer Gurdial Singh Nijar, representing former relationship manager Joanna Yu, told the court that Najib only filed a suit against her and the bank after he was charged in 2018 for misappropriating SRC International funds, which he alleged had put him in emotional distress.
Najib was convicted on seven charges of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM42 million in SRC International funds.
He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million. Both sentences were stayed pending his appeal, which another appellate court will rule on next Wednesday.
“He is seeking damages through this lawsuit because he claims he suffered emotional distress and loss of reputation after the charges were filed. In fact, he was only ‘troubled’ by the criminal case.
“It was not Joanna’s decision to charge him, but the former AG’s (attorney-general Tommy Thomas). She was only one of 57 witnesses who testified in the trial,” Gurdial said.
Najib filed a lawsuit against Yu and Ambank over alleged negligence in disclosing his bank account details to an unauthorised individual, Low Taek Jho.
He claimed that Yu and the bank had breached their duties under various banking laws to protect his privacy.
Najib also alleged that Yu had acted on the advice of Low, who is also known as Jho Low, in using alternative names for all his accounts, seeking Low’s advice on approving cheques under four of the accounts, and taking active steps to hide the account statements from him.
Last year, Yu and Ambank succeeded in their bids to strike out the suit before the High Court.
In her ruling, judge Khadijah Idris said Najib’s lawsuit was unsustainable because it was filed to “bolster his defence” in the SRC International case. Najib then filed an appeal to reinstate the civil action.
Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh told today’s proceedings that Yu had admitted under cross-examination in the SRC International case that she had communicated details of the bank accounts to Low.
“Our case is that she and the bank had allowed the four accounts to be manipulated by third parties and prevented the account holder and the authorities from finding out,” he said.
Harvinderjit said Ambank was fined by Bank Negara Malaysia several years ago for failing to file suspicious transaction reports (STRs) over transactions believed to be linked to 1MDB and SRC International.
“Not only did the bank have the duty under the law to file STRs, it needed to bring the customer’s attention to it,” he said.
The lawyer also said the High Court judge had “wrongly” decided on Yu and Ambank’s strike-out applications.
“She even referred to the grounds for the judge’s decision in the SRC International case, which are irrelevant.
“Our case today is whether there is reasonable cause of action for a full hearing,” Harvinderjit added.
The hearing continues on Jan 24 for arguments from Ambank’s lawyer Yoong Sin Min before judges Yaacob Md Sam, Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim.