Zeti tells Najib trial: My family never got a single cent from 1MDB

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz today said her family has never taken any money from the government-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Zeti said this while testifying as the 46th prosecution witness in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s trial over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds, which were said to have entered the former prime minister’s personal bank accounts.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akrab Gharib today asked her: “Throughout all these episodes, the transactions involving 1MDB, did you or any of your family members receive any benefits out of it?”

“No one in my family ever have received or taken 1MDB’s monies, not a single cent,” Zeti replied during the trial in the High Court.

This afternoon is the first time that Zeti has taken the witness stand in any court case.

Zeti will be turning 76 this year.

Zeti is a graduate of Universiti Malaya and University of Pennsylvania, and had worked with BNM for 35 years from 1981 to 2016 as a career central banker.

She was made BNM’s acting governor in August 1998, before becoming governor from 2000 to 2016. During these years, she served under three prime ministers and five finance ministers. Najib held both these positions.

The lawyers representing Bank Negara Malaysia in holding a watching brief this afternoon in the 1MDB trial are G. Rajasingam, Nik Azila Shuhada Nik Abdullah, Justin Tong Wei Hang and Ong Tze Xian.

Lawyer Datuk Joshua Kevin Sathiaseelan held a watching brief for Zeti.

Najib’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes on August 14.