KUALA LUMPUR: The sessions court here heard today that Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd received almost RM40 million in investments from Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd in 2018.
Public Bank manager Tay Lay Hong, 54, testified that Fashion Valet received RM7,848,000 and RM11,742,000 from Khazanah on March 23 and 26, respectively.
Tay said the company also received RM11,953,500 and RM8,364,966 from PNB on June 4 and Dec 20 in 2018, respectively.
Testifying in the RM8 million criminal breach of trust trial involving Fashion Valet founders Vivy Yusof and her husband, Fadzarudin Shah Anuar, she said RM11 million was disbursed from Fashion Valet's account to undisclosed recipients on Aug 21 that year.
“I confirm that this was a fund disbursement transaction carried out through bulk payment via online banking,” she said in her witness statement.
Tay also said RM5 million was credited to Vivy's Public Bank account on Sept 3 under the transaction reference “CIMB Rentas”, and another RM5 million was credited to Fadzarudin's account the following day, marked as “interim dividend”.
Both transactions originated from 30 Maple Sdn Bhd, based on the bank records.
She said that on Sept 5, Vivy and Fadzarudin each withdrew RM5.5 million from their respective Public Bank accounts over the counter.
During cross-examination, defence counsel M Athimulan suggested that it was normal for a large retailer such as Fashion Valet to use bulk payments to meet financial commitments, including payroll, vendor bills and shop rentals.
Tay agreed.
Athimulan: That means the RM11 million transaction described as a bulk payment does not mean that it was transferred to any single personal account?
Tay: I agree.
Athimulan: You did not find any fraudulent transfers in this bulk payment to shell companies or non-existent personal accounts?
Tay: I agree.
Vivy and Fadzarudin, both 38, were jointly charged on Dec 5, 2024 with committing criminal breach of trust involving investment funds from Khazanah and PNB in their capacity as directors of Fashion Valet.
They are accused of authorising a payment of RM8 million from Fashion Valet's corporate bank account to 30 Maple Sdn Bhd without board approval on Aug 21, 2018, at Public Bank’s Bukit Damansara branch.
The charge was framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.
Vivy and Fadzarudin also pleaded not guilty to an alternative charge of dishonestly misappropriating RM8 million in Khazanah and PNB investment funds belonging to Fashion Valet at the same location on the same date.
The charge under Section 403 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between six months and five years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.
The trial before judge Rosli Ahmad continues on Nov 3.