Cheah Tek Kuang said that in January 2011 the convoy – comprising two or three cars – picked him up from near his house before heading to Najib’s Langgak Duta residence.
The banker said he was seated in one of the cars, accompanied only by its driver.
The court was told yesterday that Cheah went to Najib’s house and handed the former prime minister various account application forms for signature.
Najib had wanted to open accounts with AmBank as he was expecting to receive substantial funds from Saudi Arabia.
Cheah told the court today that when he arrived at Langgak Duta, he saw fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, coming out from one of the other cars.
To a question by defence counsel Shafee Abdullah, Cheah said Low did not speak to him when they were at Najib’s residence.
Shafee: Do you know Jho Low?
Cheah: I know little of him.
Cheah added that prior to that encounter, AmBank staff had arranged a lunch meeting between Low and him, because Low wanted to meet the bank’s managing director.
“But he has a habit of turning up late,” he said, adding that Low was late for that lunch meeting by 30 minutes.
Shafee then quipped: “That sounds like me.”
Cheah said he rejected requests for subsequent meetings with Low.
“I didn’t want to entertain such a thing,” he added.
Shafee then asked if Low gave Cheah a Blackberry phone.
“I didn’t take it. I was using a Nokia,” Cheah replied.
Informing Zeti that Najib opened an account with AmBank
Cheah also confirmed that he met then Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz a few days after Najib signed the forms and informed her that Najib was now a customer of the bank.
“He is a ‘politically exposed person’ as well as the prime minister and finance minister. So it was proper to inform (Zeti). She said that (Najib) had to follow all the (banking) rules,” he added.
Cheah said he knew Zeti from their student days at Universiti Malaya in the 1960s.
“She was in the same batch as me (Faculty of Business and Economics) but (we were) in different divisions.
“I knew her but not well because I (did not) mix with her,” he added.
Shafee asked if Cheah knew that Zeti was UM’s vice chancellor, Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid’s daughter at the time.
“We all knew,” Cheah said.
To questions related to a Feb 1, 2011 letter from one “Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud” who allegedly promised Najib US$100 million for promoting Islam, Cheah said he saw the letter and he handed over a copy to Zeti’s office.
The hearing continues before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.