Testifying in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial, Zeti said neither she nor her family members had any association with Low, the alleged mastermind of the 1MDB saga.

Asked by lawyer Shafee Abdullah to confirm claims that Low visited her home regularly to “cook pasta for her family”, Zeti retorted: “That is ludicrous and preposterous. It never happened.”

Shafee: Did you tell the (then) prime minister (Najib Razak) back then that Jho Low was very fond of giving you gifts, and you accepted, but later returned them?

Zeti: I have never received gifts from anyone, including Jho Low.

Zeti also said she did not know if Low graduated from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where her husband, Tawfiq Ayman, also studied.

Leissner’s bribe claim against Tawfiq incorrect, says Zeti

She acknowledged being aware of testimony given by former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner in Roger Ng’s criminal trial in New York. Leissner claimed that Tawfiq had accepted bribes to ensure that US$1 billion was remitted to Kuala Lumpur for PetroSaudi International (PSI) in connection with a joint venture project involving 1MDB and PSI.

However, she insisted Leissner’s claim was “incorrect”.

“He (Tawfiq) had said (in a media statement) he has never received bribes in his life and he does not know (about) them at all,” she said.

Zeti admitted that she did not issue a media statement in response at the time as both BNM and she were advised not to comment about the case.

Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering of alleged 1MDB funds over RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.