No proof Najib directed transfer of RM42 mil of SRC funds to his accounts - Lawyer

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here today heard there was insufficient evidence to prove the link between the RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd funds with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib's counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said there was not even an iota of proof connecting the monies being transacted out of SRC International with any act or direction of his client.

"In light of this, there was in fact no credible evidence to establish how exactly the funds relating to the RM42 million were transacted out of SRC International and Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd (GMSB) to Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd (IPSB) on Dec 24, 2014; Feb 5 and 6, 2015.

"The prosecution has not shown who caused the money of SRC International to go out. That is the most critical point. Who took it out of SRC? Who moved it out? But the same money somehow got diverted and went into Najib's bank account. Is this criminal breach of trust?" the lawyer said.

Muhammad Shafee was submitting before a three-member bench led by Judge Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, in the hearing of Najib’s appeal against his conviction and jail sentence for the misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International funds.

The lawyer said it was the prosecution's case that the RM42mil was transacted out of SRC International by way of instruction letters that were signed by two signatories, former company CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and former director Datuk Suboh Md Yassin.

"PW42’s (prosecution witness Suboh) purported evidence relating to any representation given by Nik Faisal on a request or direction from ‘pihak atas’ being reference to Najib as Advisor Emeritus was unreliable. PW42 did not state the same in the five statements he gave to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)," he said.

Suboh had flip-flopped in his statements to MACC on the issue of whether he did sign any transaction letter, Muhammad Shafee said.

He submitted that during the trial, the prosecution itself had even suggested to Suboh that Nik Faisal's signature on the instruction letters could have been forged through a "cut and paste".

"They cannot show he (Najib) had dominion; it is a total collapse of their (prosecution) case," Muhammad Shafee added.

"The prosecution also failed to prove that the RM42 million was part of the RM4 billion Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) loans to SRC or was from funds belonging to SRC," he said, adding that the trial judge’s findings that whatever funds credited in SRC’s accounts were funds belonging to SRC were pure conjecture.

Notably no witness testified as to where the RM42 million came from, said Muhammad Shafee.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court had on July 28 last year sentenced Najib to 12 years’ jail and a RM210 million fine after finding him guilty on seven charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), money laundering and abuse of position involving RM42 million of SRC International funds.

Judge Mohd Nazlan sentenced Najib to 10 years’ jail on each of the three counts of CBT and each of the three counts of money laundering and 12 years' jail and a RM210 million fine, in default five years' jail, in the case of abuse of position. He, however, ordered the jail sentences to run concurrently.

The hearing of the appeal continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA