A witness has claimed that former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was allegedly "shocked and upset" when told that RM42million (S$13.8 million) was transferred to his bank accounts in 2015.

The statement was made on May 29 by Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman, the managing director of Ihsan Perdana, a company that conducted corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes for 1MDB, the New Straits Times and The Malay Mail reported.

On May 28, the court heard Shamsul testify that he was the person who signed off on the RM42 million cheque that ended up in private accounts which belonged to Najib, Malaysiakini reported.

However, Shamsul added that he did not know the accounts belonged to Najib at that time.

Only found out accounts were Najib's from news and detention

Shamsul stated on May 29 that he only found out that the accounts belonged to Najib from media reports and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

By then, he had been detained by the MACC for four days in July 2015.

He added that his detention was made in relation to the transfer of money and that at the time of his questioning, he believed the money had gone towards CSR programmes.

During cross-examination, the lead defence counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, asked Shamsul if MACC had repeatedly suggested to him that he had committed a serious crime.

Shamsul replied in the affirmative that he was pressured by MACC.

Upon his release, Shamsul revealed that he went to Najib to inform him about what had happened.

Najib "shocked and upset" about transfer

Shamsul shared that Najib appeared genuinely upset when he informed him that the money had actually ended up in his accounts, Malaysiakini highlighted.

On top of that, Najib also claimed that he did not know why the money was transferred through Shamsul.

Shamsul further stated that he also apologised to Najib for the fact that Ihsan Perdana had been used to transfer the money.

However, Shamsul also revealed that Najib did not instruct him to lodge a report with the police or MACC about the matter.

Who asked the money to be transferred?

According to NST, Shafee then asked Shamsul on who had asked the money to be transferred to Najib's accounts.

Shamsul replied that the instructions had been given by Dennis See, the project director of an entity called Yayasan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (YAR1M).

Shamsul elaborated that it was See who instructed him to allow Ihsan Perdana's account to be used as a transit for transferring the money to Najib's accounts.

However, Shamsul was unaware that the bank accounts belonged to Najib.

According to its website, YAR1M is a charitable foundation dedicated towards helping less fortunate Malaysians.

What's more, Najib was also the chairman of YAR1M's Board of Trustee at that time, Shamsul further stated during re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, according to The Malay Mail.

Top image from Najib Razak Facebook