Najib backed SRC's RM1.5b investment abroad - witness

NAJIB TRIAL | Former premier Najib Abdul Razak had in 2011 endorsed SRC International Sdn Bhd's decision to invest RM1.5 billion overseas, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

According to the company's former chairperson Ismee Ismail, Najib had endorsed the decision during a meeting with the company's CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil during a meeting on Sept 7 that year.

The meeting took place after SRC International had received a RM2 billion loan from Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) on Aug 29 that year. KWAP would loan another RM2 billion on in March the following year.

The other four board members were briefed by Nik Faisal on the details his meeting with Najib when the company's board convened on Sept 13.

"I did ask him for a copy of the minute. I can't recall if he presented it to the board," Ismee said during examination-in-chief by DPP Ishak Mohd Yusoff.

According to Ismee, Nik Faisal also briefed the board members that the company should report directly to the prime minister.

Ismee had testified that Najib was the advisor emeritus to SRC International and was responsible for hiring and firing the company's directors as stipulated by the company's memorandum and articles of association.

Earlier, the prosecution attempted to tender a copy of the Sept 7 meeting minutes but this was objected by the defence who argued that the document was a "fake", since the circumstances of how it was obtained could not be established.

There were lengthy submissions by both sides, with the prosecution arguing that Sept 13 meeting minutes supported the contents of the Sept 7 meeting minutes.

Eventually, Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ruled that the Sept 7 meeting minutes cannot be tendered as evidence for now until the MACC investigating officer who seized the document - identified only as "Rosli" - takes the stand.

The prosecution did not go into details on what the RM1.5 billion was for nor what happened to the balance of RM500 million. It is understood that this may be unravelled at a later stage of the trial.

Malaysiakini was unable to sight the Sept 13 meeting minutes, which was accepted as evidence.

Meanwhile, Ismee (photo) also testified that on Feb 14, 2012, the board had received, through Nik Faisal, a shareholder's written instruction to transfer SRC International's ownership to Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).

SRC International was at the time a subsidiary of 1MDB, which in turn was owned by MOF Inc, which in turn was controlled by the finance minister at the time - Najib.

The instruction to transfer ownership, said Ismee, contained Najib's signature.

Ismee told the court that the board had no say on this as the transfer was purely at the shareholder's discretion.

Ishak: Could the board review (pertimbang semula) this matter?

Ismee: I think this is the issue for shareholder.

Ishak: So could it or could it not (change the decision)?

Ismee: No we couldn't. Because it was the issue for shareholder, not for SRC directors.

Ismee also testified that during the Feb 14 meeting, the board had discussed another proposal by Nik Faisal to secure another RM2 billion loan from KWAP. The loan was disbursed on March 28 that year.

Ismee told the court that he quit as SRC International director in 2014, citing unhappiness with how Nik Faisal was running the company.

Between 2006 and 2016, Ismee served as both Tabung Haji CEO and managing director. He was appointed as a non-executive director of 1MDB in 2009.

In January 2011, he joined the SRC International board alongside Suboh Md Yasin, Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar, Shahrol Azrol Ibrahim Halmi and Nik Faisal.

In 2017, he was appointed as the chairperson of Media Prima Bhd. He resigned in May the following year. 

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