NAJIB'S DEADLY RM4.2BIL SCANDAL, AMBANK SHAREHOLDER ANZ NOW DESPERATE TO SELL OFF STAKE
31 March 2016
One of Australia’s biggest banks, ANZ, insists it had no authority to act over the alleged transfer of more than $US1 billion into Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal accounts at AmBank, despite being a major shareholder of the Malaysian institution with ANZ executives working in senior management and sitting on the board.
The scandal surrounding money transfers totalling $US1,050,795,451.58 said to have flowed into Mr Najib’s bank accounts between January 2011 and April 2013 has rocked the Malaysian government and triggered financial investigations by authorities on three continents.
Mr Najib has denied any wrongdoing and in January his hand-picked new Attorney-General, Mohamad Apandi Ali, demanded all Malaysian investigations into the transfers be closed, declaring the bulk of the money a gift from Saudi royalty.
The ANZ has been a major shareholder in Malaysia’s AmBank for almost 10 years, after buying a 24.9 per cent stake in 2006.
A partnership agreement drawn up after the acquisition and lodged with the ASX not only gives ANZ seats on AmBank’s board and empowers it to parachute its staff into key management positions, it also obliges the Malaysian institution to follow its Australian partner’s rules of probity and core policy “to the extent appropriate in Malaysia”.
It must also consult ANZ before approving any business plan, major mergers, disposals, acquisitions or changes in capital structure or direction.
According to bank documents seen by the ABC’s Four Corners, between January 13, 2011, and April 10, 2013, Mr Najib received more than $US1bn into personal AmBank accounts held under the name Mr X in instalments of between $US9 million and $US70m from, variously, the Saudi Arabian government, a Saudi prince and two Virgin Islands companies.