KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s voice was instantly recognisable when he made a phone call in 2014 to check on 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s purported US$2.3 billion “investment”, a former Singapore banker told the High Court today.
Asked by deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam how he was able to identify Najib’s voice in the conference call, Swampillai said: “I heard Datuk Seri Najib on television many times, so he’s got a distinctive voice, so when he came on the conference call, I immediately recognised the voice.”
“There were vague reasons given to us for this call requested by Najib. After some questioning by myself, I got to know from Yak that Najib wanted to ask Lobo certain questions about the valuation of the Bridge Funds. Today, Swampillai said his involvement in 1MDB’s Cayman Islands subsidiary Brazen Sky Limited’s US$2.3 billion investment in Bridge Funds was gradually reduced from 2013 onwards while Yeo took on a more prominent role for BSI Singapore.
Even after being sidelined, Swampillai said he was aware that Brazen Sky did not actually earn a “legitimate return or profits” from the purported US$2.318 billion investment in Bridge Funds.