Prosecution urges court to convict Najib on seven charges over SRC funds

The prosecution in the trial of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s case involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds today urged the High Court to convict the former prime minister on all seven charges.

Ad hoc prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram said the prosecution had dealt with charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), abuse of position and money laundering faced by Najib, 67.

“I humbly submit that the seven charges have been proven. My Lord, I am done. I am finished with my submissions and tomorrow is their (defence) day (to rebut to prosecution’s submissions),” he said after completing his submissions.

For the three CBT charges, Sithambaram said Najib had absolute knowledge that the RM42 million in his three accounts was from the SRC.

“His conduct is clearly of a man knowingly committing criminal offences with impunity because of his position,” he said adding that the SRC suffered a loss of RM42 million while the accused gained RM42 million.

For the abuse of position charge, the DPP contended that Najib was able to influence the drawdown of the RM2 billion Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) loan in its entirety.

Lastly, for money laundering charges, the DPP argued that any reasonable person, most notably a person holding the highest office in the country, would have taken serious action if illegal monies were discovered in his personal bank accounts.

Sithambaram said it is considered wilful blindness when Najib failed to inquire about the source of the money that flowed into his account.

“Najib, being the bank account holder must be vigilant and cautious of funds entering his personal bank accounts that he ultimately expended fully. The accused cannot simply direct other persons to ensure funds are well-replenished in his bank accounts for him to spend without caring about the source of the funds.

“Since the accused had exhausted the donated money and returned a portion of it which he received in his bank accounts later, how could he issue more cheques without being suspicious of the funds in his accounts.

“A reasonable person would have questioned such huge amount,” he said.

At the outset, the DPP also submitted that fugitive businessman, Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, had clear knowledge about Najib’s expenditure, that he had taken proactive steps before any issuance of cheques was made by the former premier.

Sithambaram said although the central theme of the defence during this trial was Jho Low had no knowledge of the cheques issued by the Pekan MP, the evidence pointed out that Jho Low took steps to ensure that there were sufficient funds in Najib’s account at all times.

Sithambaram then read out excerpts of his cross-examination of the accused to show the coordination between Jho Low and Najib’s principal private secretary, the late Datuk Azlin Alias, on behalf of Najib, and between Jho Low and the former premier himself in ensuring sufficient funds for the writing of the cheques.

The excerpts, among others, includes a BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) conversation relating to Najib’s credit card purchase in Hawaii, in which Jho Low alerted AmBank Relationship Manager, Joanna Yu Ging Ping to ensure that the payment went through.

“The evidence led at the trial established that Jho Low was not always acting reactively to ensure Datuk Seri Najib cheques were not dishonoured, on the other hand, Jho Low attempted to ensure the accused account had sufficient funds even before he (Najib) issued his cheques.

“Contrary to the defence allegation of the reactionary role played by Jho Low, he was active and facilitated the accused in managing his bank account and the credit card account.

“It is clearly shown when the accused and Jho Low were in direct communication as well as when Azlin communicated on behalf of Najib to ensure the cheques were not dishonoured,” he said.

Najib is facing seven charges of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International 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 allegedly committed 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.

The hearing of the submissions before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA