KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak denied that funds to the tune of US$120 million, which ended up in his personal AmBank accounts, had originated from monies misappropriated from SRC International Sdn Bhd or Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP), and will leave it to his lawyers to show this.
Picking up where he left off from his cross-examination of Najib on Sept 26 and 27 at the High Court here, SRC counsel Datuk Lim Chee Wee had again asked Najib for documentary evidence to indicate that a sum of US$120 million in his accounts was not from SRC or KWAP.
This time, the imprisoned ex-finance minister had answered Lim, saying that the money was not from the RM4 billion KWAP loan which was given to SRC.
Lim: On Sept 26 and 27, I asked you this precise question, that you have not shown any documentary evidence that the credit of these three transactions (the US$120 million that went into Najib’s accounts) are not from SRC or KWAP money. May I have your answer?
Najib: The money that allegedly came to my account, based on documents and studied and analysed by my defence team, (the team has) concluded that these aren’t KWAP or SRC money. This is based on documents (the defence team has analysed). I don’t have them on me.
Najib said this while testifying in his defence in a civil suit brought against him by SRC, concerning a RM4 billion loan from KWAP, which was given to SRC in two tranches in the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2012. The company claims that US$120 million had eventually ended up in Najib’s bank accounts.
Najib also said that in previous witness testimony from SRC British Virgin Islands (SRC-BVI) liquidator Angela Barkhouse, she had testified that the money did not originate from KWAP or SRC.
“Angela Barkhouse’s testimony also shows that money had not originated from SRC or KWAP — they aren’t in line with what you claim,” Najib told Lim.
“Because I don’t have the bank documents and the flow of money is complex, I would like to leave it to my lawyers to show and submit that they aren’t from SRC,” Najib added.
Previously, Barkhouse testified that the monies went into Najib's accounts in three tranches. The first tranche, of US$70 million, was transferred on Dec 29, 2011. The other two tranches were US$25 million each, and were transferred on March 12, 2012, and May 22, 2012, which totals to US$120 million.
Barkhouse had outlined in her witness testimony that a portion of the RM4 billion loans from KWAP made its way to a Swiss BSI account, followed by elaborate transactions with Enterprise Emerging Market Fund in Curacao, Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Ltd in the British Virgin Islands, and then to Singapore, where a sum of US$120 million landed in Najib's bank account.
However, it has been Najib’s lawyers’ contention that the US$120 million had been a part of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) US$620 million which Najib returned to Tanore Finance Corp. This is the crux of Najib’s 1MDB-Tanore criminal matter, where he is charged for misappropriating US$681 million (part of the US$620 million).
Lim then pressed him further on whether he was able to show documentary proof that the money was not from KWAP or SRC.
Lim: Of all the documents here in the trial, can you show that these three transactions aren’t from KWAP loans or SRC?
Najib: My lawyers will show, they have the documents. They will submit on it.
Lim: You are the witness in this trial, you, as the witness, can you show any documents that show they (the money) aren’t from KWAP?
Najib: I don’t know. I will have to leave it to my lawyers. My lawyers will submit on this later.
Lim: You are now a witness, an allegation was made that you received US$120 million into your account, you are giving evidence wherein part of the claim is for the US$120 million which we say is credited into your account. You as a factual witness have to answer. Do you have any documentary evidence as to the source of these funds?
Najib: I deny the US$120 million and my lawyers will bring the documents during submissions.
Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Farhan Shafee then interjected and told judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin that it was not for Najib to show documents, it is for the plaintiff (Lim) to present it to Najib.
SRC had filed the civil suit against Najib and SRC's former chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil in May 2021.
The company is seeking a declaration from the court that Najib is liable to account for the company's losses of US$1.18 billion due to breach of duties and trust. It is also asking for an order for Najib to compensate US$120 million, and for Nik Faisal to pay US$2 million to SRC, and for the company to be entitled to trace the amount in general, exemplary, and aggravated damages.
This is different from Najib's criminal case, where he was found guilty of criminal breach of trust, money laundering, and abuse of power of SRC funds amounting to RM42 million, which was received between Dec 26, 2014 and Feb 10, 2015.
Initially, the suit also named former company board members Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, Datuk Suboh Md Yassin, Datuk Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin, Datok Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Datuk Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar as defendants.
They were dropped later, only for Najib to bring them back again as third parties. A defendant can initiate this against a third party who is not part of the main suit, in order to claim contribution, indemnity, or any remedy which is claimed by the plaintiff.
SRC claims that out of the total KWAP loan of RM4 billion, a sum of RM3.6 billion was immediately transferred out when the funds went to SRC.
Source: TheEdge - 10 Oct 2024
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