Ex-SRC director: Najib referred to as 'boss', 'pihak atas'

A former SRC International Sdn Bhd director testified that Najib Abdul Razak was referred to as “boss” and “pihak atas” (superior) when the former prime minister was the adviser emeritus of the Minister of Finance Incorporated-owned (MOF Inc) company.

Suboh Md Yassin said this in his oral testimony during today’s full court hearing of SRC’s US$1.18 billion lawsuit against Najib.

During the civil action proceedings before the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Suboh described Najib as having an overwhelming presence and control over the company through its then-CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, an alleged proxy of the ex-premier.

He testified that Nik Faisal, who is currently being sought by Malaysian authorities to assist in a related criminal investigation, directed the affairs of SRC on behalf of Najib.

Suboh (above) said Nik Faisal did not pay attention to his or the SRC board’s concerns, and that the then-CEO would only approach him (Suboh) to sign company documents.

“Initially I would query the purpose of the document that he (Nik Faisal) required me to sign.

“My queries would regularly be brushed aside with a statement suggesting that the underlying transaction must be done at the behest of DSN (Najib) - for example, ‘boss nak lah’ (boss - referring to DSN) or ‘diminta pihak atas’ (pihak atas - referring to DSN).

“There were times when he (Nik Faisal) would not even see me. He would instruct a runner to bring documents for me to sign there and then, and then the runner would bring the documents back. Most of the time, the document I was to sign would already have been signed by Nik Faisal,” he said.

Suboh, who Najib appointed as SRC director on Aug 1, 2011, and ceased to be a director on March 4, 2019, said he was required merely to countersign and the ‘rubber-stamping’ process went on throughout his tenure in SRC.

An ‘extension’ of Finance Ministry

Suboh testified that due to this peculiar setup of SRC, Najib directly or through Nik Faisal controlled all aspects of the running of the company, reducing its directors’ roles and powers to nothing.

The former director said despite SRC being a private limited company, the way it was run was in effect like an extension of the governmental activities of the Finance Ministry.

“The running of SRC felt just like another government department under the direction of DSN, who was the prime minister and finance minister at that material time. DSN had full and absolute control over all aspects of the running of SRC, to the exclusion of the board.

“I felt that my role in SRC was not any different from that of being a civil servant in a government department. As civil servants, we were accustomed to and expected to strictly follow all directions from the top, in this case from the prime minister of Malaysia,” he said.

“If the top required us to do something, we were not in any position to object to or override any decision that we were instructed to implement and to take all necessary steps to give effect to the underlying transactions of these instructions.

“This is more so as I knew DSN had the absolute power to ‘hire and fire’ any director according to SRC’s memorandum and articles of association,” Suboh told civil court judge Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.

However, during cross-examination by Najib’s counsel Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, Suboh replied it was “entirely possible” that Nik Faisal was putting “fear” in the board (in relation to Najib hiring and firing directors) without the behest of the ex-premier.

The ex-director replied that Nik Faisal was the “contact point” between the SRC board and Najib, and thus none of the then-directors “knew anything”.

Suboh added that Najib appointed him as a member of the SRC board because the ex-premier “knew the quality of my work”.

In this civil suit, Suboh is testifying on behalf of plaintiff SRC against defendant Najib.

Suboh is also giving oral evidence in the capacity of a third party brought into the lawsuit by Najib to fully or partly reimburse the ex-premier in the event that SRC wins the court action.

The hearing resumes tomorrow.

A separate criminal trial

Suboh was also a prosecution witness in a separate criminal trial against Najib linked to RM42 million of SRC’s funds, which led to the ex-premier’s conviction. Najib is serving a six-year jail sentence and was fined RM50 million.

Under its new management, SRC filed the suit in May 2021, alleging that Najib, as adviser emeritus of the plaintiff, had committed a breach of trust and abuse of power, and personally benefited from the company’s funds, as well as misappropriated billions of ringgit.

SRC is also seeking a court declaration that the defendant is responsible for its losses due to a purported breach of duties and trust, and for the ex-premier to repay RM42 million.

The plaintiff is also seeking a court order for Najib to be made accountable for the former’s US$1.18 billion loss, as well as repay US$120 million of funds that allegedly flowed into the former finance minister’s bank account.

The civil action against Najib is linked to the alleged misappropriation of part of RM4 billion - RM3.6 billion or US$1.18 billion in foreign exchange rates between 2011 and 2012 - in loans that the company received from Retirement Fund Incorporated (Kwap) between 2011 and 2012.

Kwap is a statutory body under the Finance Ministry.

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