SRC trial: Ex-PM Najib to know fate on Tuesday

It is going to be a momentous day in the annals of Malaysian judicial history as a court will be delivering its verdict on a former Malaysian prime minister who is charged with Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT), money laundering and abuse of power.

It involves the trial of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak where the Kuala Lumpur High Court has to decide whether the former prime minister is guilty or not on charges of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

All eyes will be on High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali on Tuesday as he will decide on the case against Najib, whose 67th birthday was last Thursday.

The verdict is expected to be delivered at about 10 am.

Najib is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), three charges of money laundering and one count of abuse of position in relation to the SRC funds. SRC is a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and now placed under the Finance Ministry.

Najib, who served as Malaysia's sixth prime minister from 2009 to 2018, he is the first head of government of the country to find himself in the dock of a court.

Justice Mohd Nazlan had on June 5, 2020 set July 28 to deliver the verdict after hearing submissions by the prosecution and defence at the end of the defence's case for five days beginning June 1.

On Nov 11, 2019 the judge had ordered Najib to enter his defence on all seven charges after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.

In his judgment, Justice Mohd Nazlan among others ruled that Najib had used his office or position for gratification and had utilised RM42 million of SRC’s funds, in which he had an interest, for his personal interests and own advantage.

The judge also held that the accused had enormous influence and wielded an overarching position of power in SRC and that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing there was CBT by Najib involving funds of the company.

In relation to the three money-laundering charges, Justice Mohd Nazlan held that the RM42 million proceeds in Najib’s accounts originated from unlawful activity, as established in the CBT charges.

On Dec 3, 2019, Najib took the witness stand as the first defence witness to answer the charges against him.

The defence opened its case with Najib reading out his 243-page witness statement, touching on, among others, on the appointment of directors of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

Najib, who was also finance minister when he was the prime minister, also spoke at length about the setting up of 1MDB, the role fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, played in the setting up of TIA which later morphed into 1MDB, and the idea behind the setting up of SRC.

The Member of Parliament for Pekan also told the court that he “was shocked” upon receiving RM42 million from SRC into his personal bank accounts in December 2014 and February 2015, but he did not return any of the money because he wanted to see the outcome of the then ongoing investigation by the authorities.

In his testimony, he also admitted that he minuted the Malay word “bersetuju” on a letter from SRC seeking his approval, as the finance minister, for a RM3.95-billion loan from Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP).

Najib said he minuted the word for his own attention to indicate his support for the SRC loan application and added that as the matter at that time was still current and had caught his eye, he decided to extend his support to the application submitted by SRC on June 3, 2011.

Nevertheless, he said, the word “bersetuju” did not mean that it was final and cannot be changed.

Others called to testify for the defence’s case were two former chief commissioners of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), namely Tan Sri Dzulkfili Ahmad and Latheefa Koya and former Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

The prosecution team was led by ad-hoc Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram while Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah led a group of defence counsel.

The trial began on April 3 last year, with the prosecution having called 57 witnesses to the stand. The prosecution closed its case on Aug 27, the same year.

During the trial, the prosecution tendered more than 750 exhibits, including bank documents relating to Najib’s bank accounts, documents on cash transactions, minutes of meetings and Blackberry Messenger chats concerning Najib’s transactions.

The witnesses included AmBank Jalan Raja Chulan branch manager R. Uma Devi, 40; KWAP former CEO Azian Mohd Noh, 66; Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, 54, a former member of SRC's board of directors; and SRC non-executive director Datuk Suboh Md Yassin, 68.

Others were former Finance Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, 67; former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping, 48; former finance minister II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, 67; and investigating officer Rosli Husain, 54.

Najib was first brought to the Sessions Court here on July 4, 2018 where he was charged with three counts of CBT and one count of abuse of position.

On Aug 8, 2018, he was brought to the Sessions Court again and charged with three counts of money laundering, involving the same money. The cases were later transferred to the High Court with the charges consolidated in one trial.

With regard to the CBT charges, Najib, as a public servant and agent, namely Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Malaysia, and Advisor Emeritus of SRC International Sdn Bhd (SRC), allegedly misappropriated RM27 million and RM5 million respectively of RM4 billion belonging to SRC.

He was charged with committing the two offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad, Ambank Group Building, No 55, Jalan Raja Chulan here, between Dec 24, 2014, and Dec 29, 2014.

On the third count, Najib allegedly misappropriated RM10 million of RM4 billion belonging to SRC at the same place between Feb 10, 2015, and March 2, 2015.

The three charges are under Section 409 of the Penal Code which provides imprisonment for up to 20 years, with whipping and liable to fine upon conviction.

On the charge of abusing his position, Najib as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Malaysia, allegedly used his position to commit bribery involving RM42 million through his participation or involvement in the decision to provide government guarantees for loans from the Retirement Fund Incorporated to SRC International amounting to RM4 billion.

He was charged with committing the offence at the Prime Minister's Office, Precinct 1, Putrajaya, Federal Territory of Putrajaya, between Aug 17, 2011 and Feb 8, 2012.

The charge, under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 of the same Act, provides imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

On the three money-laundering charges, Najib is alleged to have received RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million, respectively, of proceeds from unlawful activities, via Real-Time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities (Rentas) into his two AmIslamic Bank Berhad accounts, bearing the numbers ‪2112022011880‬ and ‪2112022011906‬.

The offences were allegedly committed at AmIslamic Bank Berhad, AmBank Group Building, No. 55, Jalan Raja Chulan here, between Dec 26, 2014, and Feb 10, 2015 under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001.

If convicted, the ex-premier faces up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of up to five times the sum or value of the illicit proceeds or RM5 million, whichever is higher, on each count.

Besides the seven charges involving SRC funds, Najib was also slapped with four charges of having used his positions to obtain gratification totalling RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same money. This case is still on trial at the prosecution stage before High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

He also was charged with using his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final audit report which was already “finalised” by the Auditor-General before the report was “finalised again” and presented before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to avoid any action being taken against him while former chief executive officer of 1MDB Arul Kanda Kandasamy is charged with abetting Najib in making amendments to the report to protect Najib from being subjected to action. This case is being heard before High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.

Najib was again charged on three money-laundering charges involving RM27 million of SRC funds and the case is still at case management proceedings before Justice Mohamed Zaini.

He is also facing six counts of CBT involving RM6.6 billion with former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah relating to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) dealings before Justice Mohd Nazlan. The case has yet go to trial.

Altogether, Najib is facing 42 charges.