KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court was told today that Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd received nearly RM40 million in investment funds from Khazanah Nasional Bhd (Khazanah) and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) in 2018.
Bukit Damansara Public Bank Bhd banking services manager Tay Lay Hong, 54, said the amount involved four transactions recorded between March and December that year.
"An examination of the company's bank statements showed that Khazanah transferred RM7.84 million on March 23, 2018, and RM11.74 million on March 26, 2018.
"PNB recorded transfers of RM11.95 million on June 4, 2018, and RM8.36 million on Dec 20, 2018," he said.
The fifth prosecution witness was testifying in the trial of Fashion Valet founders Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof and her husband, Datuk Fadzarudin Shah Anuar, who were charged with criminal breach of trust involving RM8 million in investment funds from Khazanah and PNB.
During today's proceedings, Tay also confirmed an RM11 million withdrawal from Fashion Valet's account on Aug 21, 2018, recorded as "PAYNET DIRECT DEBIT".
"I confirm that this was a fund disbursement transaction carried out through bulk payments online.
"The RM11 million transfer fell under a category of payments requiring verification and approval by an authorised person for the Public Bank account held under Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd.
"However, I am unsure who the authorised person for online banking was. To my knowledge, the appointment of an authorised person is based on a directors' resolution, and the authorised signatory is usually the same person authorised to conduct online banking transactions," he said.
Tay, who joined Public Bank in 1993, said a RM5 million transaction from 30 Maple Sdn Bhd was credited to Fadzarudin's personal account on Sept 4, 2018.
"The transaction was recorded with the reference 'Interim Dividend'," he said.
He also confirmed that RM5 million was transferred from 30 Maple to Vivy Sofinas' personal account on Sept 3, 2018, with the reference "CIMB Rentas".
The two transactions brought the total amount credited to their personal accounts to RM10 million.
The bank statements referred to by Tay also recorded RM5.5 million in cash withdrawals over the counter from the personal accounts of Vivy Sofinas and Fadzarudin on Sept 5, 2018.
However, Tay clarified that the withdrawals were made at Public Bank branch 269, not the Bukit Damansara branch, which has the branch code 066.
During cross-examination by lawyer Datuk M. Athimulan, Tay agreed that all the information in his witness statement was based on bank statements.
He also agreed that the RM11 million withdrawn from Fashion Valet's bank account did not necessarily mean the money was transferred to a single personal account, adding that bulk payments could cover salaries, shop rentals and other expenses.
Vivy Sofinas, 38, and Fadzarudin, 37, were jointly charged, in their capacity as Fashion Valet directors, with criminal breach of trust for making an RM8 million payment from the company's bank account to 30 Maple without the approval of Fashion Valet's board of directors.
The offence was allegedly committed at Public Bank's Bukit Damansara branch at 36-40 Medan Setia 2, Plaza Damansara, on Aug 21, 2018.
They were charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code. If convicted, they face imprisonment of between two and 20 years, whipping and a possible fine.
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