Why put SRC under MOF Inc if Najib wanted to plunder, poses Najib's defence
NAJIB SRC TRIAL | The move to take SRC International Sdn Bhd out of 1MDB and place it under the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) was intended to provide better government oversight and not facilitate a cover-up as claimed by the prosecution.
Submitting for the defence in former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's RM42 million SRC International graft case at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, defence lawyer Farhan Read said the move did not reflect the intentions of someone who wanted to steal public funds.
NAJIB SRC TRIAL | The move to take SRC International Sdn Bhd out of 1MDB and place it under the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) was intended to provide better government oversight and not facilitate a cover-up as claimed by the prosecution.
Submitting for the defence in former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's RM42 million SRC International graft case at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, defence lawyer Farhan Read (above) said the move did not reflect the intentions of someone who wanted to steal public funds.
"If he (Najib) wanted to plunder funds from government-linked companies, the best thing is not to place more (government) control over them," he told the court.
Farhan said this then begs the question of how "placing additional controls (on SRC International) is in service of Najib's 'evil' schemes".
SRC International was moved from 1MDB to MOF Inc in February 2012 after it obtained an RM2 billion loan from the Retirement Fund Incorporated (Kwap). A month later, it got another RM2 billion loan from Kwap.
SRC then "invested" the proceed overseas, including in Switzerland, and the sum was subsequently unaccounted for.
Najib allegedly controlled MOF Inc by virtue of his position as finance minister at the time. He was also prime minister.
In 1MDB, Najib was also chairperson of the board of advisers and the company's memorandum and articles of association were allegedly amended to give him a say in the company's decisions.
Farhan cited witness testimony that by putting SRC under MOF Inc, it made SRC directly accountable to the government.
During the second day of the defence oral submission today before judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, Farhan argued that the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) was never compelled by a minute made by Najib to grant billions of ringgit in loans to SRC International due to Najib allegedly being the “ultimate boss”.
He was referring to the previous testimony of the 38th prosecution witness, former KWAP CEO Azian Mohd Noh, that Najib was the “ultimate boss” and he had an influence on the fund in it granting an initial RM3.95 billion loan to SRC International in 2011. This quantum was later brought down to RM2 billion.
Farhan said this was because Azian and former Treasury secretary-general Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah (the 45th prosecution witness) never said they felt compelled to grant the loan.
The lawyer further argued that Wan Abdul Aziz had the power to say "no" to Najib due to the reality of the check-and-balance between the MoF and the Treasury and that Wan Abdul Aziz was merely a subordinate in terms of the organisation's formalistic structure, among others.
The defence had closed its case on March 1after calling 19 witnesses during the defence stage of trial that ran for 33 days since Dec 3 last year. Nazlan had previously set three days from June 1 to June 3 to hear oral submissions by both the defence and the prosecution.
The trial began on April 3 last year, with the prosecution calling 57 witnesses.
On Nov 11 last year, the court ordered Najib to enter his defence on seven charges linked to alleged misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC funds, namely three counts of CBT, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of position in relation to the SRC monies.
In regard to the CBT charges, Najib, as a public servant and agent via being then prime minister and finance minister as well as advisor emeritus of SRC International was alleged to have 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, Jalan Raja Chulan in the capital between Dec 24, 2014, and Dec 29, 2014.
On the third CBT count, Najib allegedly misappropriated another RM10 million out of RM4 billion belonging to SRC at the same place between Feb 10, 2015, and March 2, 2015.
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