Najib 'had no knowledge' of RM42 mil SRC money in his accounts, says lawyer

Lawyer Harvinderjit Singh said one of the prosecution witnesses, namely former SRC International director Datuk Suboh Md Yassin had testified that he only followed instructions from former SRC International chief executive officer (CEO) Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil to sign the cheque for the purpose of transferring money into Najib’s personal accounts.

He said this during the hearing of the oral submission at the end of the defence case today.

Harvinderjit further submitted the prosecution has not been able to prove that the accused had control in the transfer of RM42 million in funds alleged to be from SRC International, into his accounts.

“The prosecution had changed their axis that the accused had given the task to put RM42 million of SRC International money into his personal bank account to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, his former principal private secretary, the late Datuk Azlin Alias, and Nik Faisal.

The lawyer further argued the charges framed on Najib were that he had allegedly committed criminal breach of trust (CBT) of RM42 million but the charges did not state conspiracy.

“So what happened was that the prosecution tailored their case. They built the entire case around that fact, making it a departure from the three criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges levelled against Najib,” said the lawyer.

Harvinderjit also said that the prosecution could not conclusively prove that his client had knowledge that the RM42 million came from SRC International.

“There is evidence to support Najib's belief and state of knowledge that the funds in his account, at that material time, were donations made to him by the Arab royalty," he said.

He further said the evidence did not establish the existence of any particular act of Najib which led to or caused the RM42 million transactions, and therefore did not prove any misappropriation by the former premier.

“This is not a case of RM42 million in the accused's account. Jho Low moved the money out of SRC without being in the company. You cannot say that the accused committed the crime with other people," the lawyer said.

The defence's submission was split into five chapters and touched on the cause and purpose of the RM42 million transaction that made up the crux of the charges against the Pekan MP, and his belief on the monies being an Arab donation, among others.

The defence will continue their submissions before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali tomorrow.

Najib is facing seven charges of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds, comprising three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of position in relation to the SRC funds.

The Pekan MP was charged with committing the offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad, Ambank Group Building, No 55, Jalan Raja Chulan here and at the Prime Minister's Office, Precinct 1, Putrajaya between Aug 17, 2011 and March 2, 2015.