Day 73: Najib iffy over bank accounts closure

LIVE | The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd enters day 73 today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Foreign handwriting expert doubtful to arrive before the stipulated time
  
  
• Jho Low appointed by Saudi royal family as point man for donations, says Najib
  
  
• Najib: Tough to get Saudi royal family to testify in court
  
  
• Najib identifies documents, remembers he signed them
  
  
• Najib cornered over banking discrepancy
  
  
• Ex-premier unaware of AmBank wrongdoings
  
  
• Najib signed off on RM27m transfer into his account
  
  
• Najib: Funds not for vote-buying
  
  
• I did not authorise RM42m transfer, says Najib
  
  
• Judge sets dateline for handwriting expert's examination
  
  
• Apandi not wrong to clear me from any wrongdoing, says Najib
  
  
• Najib's slew of indecisiveness over closure of bank accounts
  
  
• No abuse of power when I was PM, says Najib
   
• Proceedings to resume on Feb 3

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3.55pm - Thank you for following our live report today.

Reporting by Hidir Reduan Abdul Rashid and Hariz Mohd. Photographs by Azneal Ishak. Social media updates by Ewe Linq Yenn.

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3.35pm - Court adjourns, resumes on Feb 3

DPP V Sithambaram will conduct another hour of cross-examination on Feb 3. Najib Abdul Razak's defence team will conduct a re-examination of their client after that procedure.

Najib denies enriching himself with RM42m of SRC monies

3.26pm - Najib Abdul Razak denies he abused his then position as prime minister to enrich himself with RM42 million of SRC International's funds.

The accused makes this denial among a series of denials to assertions made by DPP V Sithambaram during cross-examination.

Sithambaram: I put it to you that you misused your position as a public officer, prime minister and also finance minister to secure the two government guarantees for RM4 billion (loans from Retirement Fund Inc or KWAP) to SRC.

Najib: I disagree.

Sithambaram: I put it to you that you used your position to enrich yourself from the SRC funds.

Najib: I disagree.

Sithambaram: I put it to you that you transferred RM42 million in SRC funds which is the subject matter of (Najib's) CBT (charges) for no known purpose into your account, this confirms that this is indeed a bribe.

Najib: No, no evidence to show that.

Sithambaram: You had a personal interest in SRC at all material times when you chaired the cabinet meeting to approve two government guarantees (for KWAP's RM4 billion loan to SRC)?

Najib: I totally disagree.

Sithambaram: You ran SRC as your own personal company for your own personal benefit.

Najib: I disagree.

Sithambaram: Only a minister without any private interest in an MKD (Minister of Finance Inc) company (SRC) can sit and make decisions at a cabinet meeting (to approve the two government guarantees), and this is not a person with your (then) position.

Najib: I disagree.

Najib cannot confirm if he signed document instructing accounts closure

3.15pm - The court hears from Najib Abdul Razak that he had told his then principal private secretary, Azlin Alias, that he wanted to close his three bank accounts with AmBank in 2015.

However, the former premier tells the court that he could not confirm if he had signed a document that ordered the closure of accounts ending in "880, 898" and "906".

Najib testifies this when shown the original copy of the document in court.

"I want the accounts (to be) closed, but I cannot confirm if I signed this," says Najib.

He also could not recall if Azlin had brought the document for him to sign.

Najib, however, agrees that it was possible that Azlin had brought the document to him.

Najib's defence may call former AG Apandi Ali as witness

3.10pm - Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's defence might call former attorney-general Apandi Ali to testify as their witness in the SRC International criminal trial.

Najib says this when asked by DPP V Sithambaram if Apandi would be called by the defence to testify on the latter's press conference absolving Najib of wrongdoings in the SRC case in 2016.

Sithambaram: Are you calling Apandi as a witness in this case? Because that evidence remains as identification.

Najib: We are considering the matter.

Najib disagrees then AG was wrong to exonerate him from SRC woes

3.08pm - Najib Abdul Razak disagrees that the then attorney-general Apandi Ali was wrong to exonerate him of any wrongdoing in the SRC International matter.

The former prime minister also disagrees that Apandi was later linked to being part of the Tabung Haji board.

The accused makes these denials during cross-examination by DPP V Sithambaram.

On Jan 26, 2016, Apandi announced that Najib was cleared of any wrongdoing in the SRC matter.

It was later revealed that Apandi became a member of the TH board in 2016.

He resigned from the board on June 4, 2018.

Court sets week of Feb 10 for expert to examine signatures

2.50pm - High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allows an application by the defence to set the week of Feb 10 for an Australian expert to examine Najib Abdul Razak's disputed signatures on 13 SRC International documents.

Previously, the court had set for the examination to take place before Feb 3.

The new date comes on the heels of the accused's counsel Harvinderjit Singh informing the court that the expert could only come on Feb 10.

"This is the only arrangement that could be done. Confirmation that Feb 10 is perfectly fine.

"I do not foresee too much delay (on the RM42 million SRC trial). Examination only two days and can then tell Yang Arif when the finalised report can be done," Harvinderjit says.

DPP V Sithambaram then says the expert coming on Feb 10 is one thing, but the preparation of the report by the expert is another, which may further delay the ongoing trial.

"Need to serve on us (the prosecution, in relation to the expert's report on analysis of Najib's alleged signatures). The report must come fairly quickly. Otherwise, that can throw the case (trial) off-course," Sithambaram reminds the court.

The judge then sets the week of Feb 10 for the expert to analyse the disputed signatures, adding that the report needs to be prepared quickly after the analysis.

2.46pm - Proceedings resume.

12.52pm - Court breaks for lunch. 

Najib doesn't know why anyone would transfer RM42m to an account

12.17pm - Najib Abdul Razak testifies he cannot provide a reason why anyone would transfer RM42 million into a bank account.

The former prime minister says this during cross-examination by DPP V Sithambaram.

The DPP was earlier asking Najib about why Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd (IPSB) managing director Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman (below) was not informed about a transfer from IPSB into Najib's account, which was for an undisclosed account.

IPSB was allegedly involved in the accumulative transfers of RM42 million into Najib's account between December 2014 and February 2015.

Sithambaram was asking Najib why his then-chief private secretary Azlin Alias did not tell then Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia CEO Ung Su Ling about the owner of the undisclosed bank account.

Ung had previously testified he was involved in telling Shamsul to transfer the amount.

Sithambaram: Why would anyone put RM42 million into an account?

Najib: I do not know. I never authorised that money (transfer).

Funds in accounts used to ensure continuation of gov't of the day: Najib

12.05pm - Najib Abdul Razak disagrees with the prosecution's suggestion that all funds that came into his five AmBank accounts between 2011 and 2015 were for his personal benefit.

Instead, he testifies, the monies were also used to help the poor.

DPP V Sithambaram then puts it to Najib that the expenditures from his accounts to BN, Umno and other social causes had personally benefited him in his political career.

"That was meant for the continuation of the government of the day," Najib answers.

The politician also disagrees with a suggestion that funds from purported Saudi donations were used to indirectly buy votes.

Sithambaram: I'm putting this to you, sir, the expenditures in these so-called Arab donations enabled you to indirectly buy votes from voters and recipients of the funds.

Najib: I disagree.

Najib told MACC he signed RM27m transfer, court hears

11.50am - Najib Abdul Razak agrees that he told the MACC during its investigations that he signed a bank document authorising a transfer of RM27 million into his bank account.

The former prime minister says this during cross-examination by DPP V Sithambaram.

The DPP is asking the accused over the MACC statement he (Najib) signed during investigations where the dispute was on whether he signed exhibit "P277", the transfer instruction in question.

During the trial, however, Najib maintains that he did not sign the transfer because he was then golfing with former US president Barack Obama in Hawaii in December 2014.

Sithambaram: You agreed when the MACC statement was recorded, you agreed you signed P277?

Najib: At that time, yes.

The DPP then asserts that Najib could have just emailed a signed copy of the transfer instruction from Hawaii to his authorised mandate holder, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, to get AmBank to execute the transfer.

The accused, however, disagrees with this assertion.

Najib never complained to AmBank about misoperation of accounts 

11.45am - Najib Abdul Razak testifies that he had never complained to AmBank about his five accounts being operated not according to instructions when the accounts were still open.

He says this when answering questions from DPP V Sithambaram about his accounts ending in the numbers 694, 481, 880, 906 and 898. The first two were operational between 2011 and 2013, while the last three were opened in 2013, and later closed in March 2015.

The former premier tells the court that the reason he never complained when the accounts were still in operation was that he was not aware of any wrongdoing then.

"I didn't complain because I didn't know what happened," Najib says.

11.28am - Proceedings resume.

10.55am - Court takes a short recess.

DPP confronts Najib over a stated loan purpose in money transfer 

10.23am - The prosecution grills Najib Abdul Razak over the stated purpose of a "loan" for transfers into his account despite his claim that it was part of donations received from the Saudi royal family.

DPP V Sithambaram (below) questions the former prime minister over three tranches of monetary transfers into Najib's "880" account between June 23, 2014, and Dec 19, 2014.

Among the bank documents Sithambaram refers Najib to is the transfer of £995,000 (RM5,360,065) from Vista Equity International Partners Limited Seychelles, into his bank account ending in the number 880 on Dec 10, 2014. 

This document stated the purpose of the money transfer was due to a loan.

Sithambaram: I put it to you that this loan (stated purpose of the transfer) and the fact that you (claimed) of getting a donation, that is why there is this discrepancy and the manner in which these funds made their way into your account.

Najib: Disagree.

Did the Saudi royal family give a 'paltry' sum of RM11k to Najib? 

10.06am - Why would the Saudi royal family give a paltry sum of £2,216.01 (RM11,567.57) to Najib Abdul Razak, a deputy public prosecutor (DPP) wonders.

DPP V Sithambaram makes this observation during his cross-examination of the former prime minister.

The DPP is referring to a transfer of that amount from Vista Equity International Partners Limited, Seychelles on Nov 24 2014, and which arrived into Najib's "880" bank account, two days later (Nov 26).

This transfer was part of a series of monetary transfers into Najib's 880 bank account from June 23, 2014, until Dec 19, 2014.

Najib's lawyers are relying on the defence that Najib had thought that the RM42 million of purported SRC money that went into his account was from a massive Saudi donation totalling RM2.6 billion.

When Sithambaram refers Najib to the bank statement on this, Najib confirms that the money was received into his account.

"This is a paltry sum for a Saudi royal family," Sithambaram remarks.

The DPP then asks Najib if the accused received donations from the Saudi royal family, and the accused agrees.

Prosecution corners Najib on his ability to identify signatures

9.55am - The prosecution's cross-examination of Najib Abdul Razak goes back to two banking documents that he allegedly signed in 2013, instructing the remittance of some US$620 million purportedly back into the hands of the Saudi royal family that purportedly gave him the donations.

For the record, these two documents, including one sent to then Ambank managing director Cheah Tek Kuang, are among those that Najib is disputing authenticity.

Najib had previously told the court he had doubts that he signed the documents, and requested to have an expert witness to examine them.

However, during this morning's cross-examination, Najib testifies that he could identify the documents based on their contents and remembers that he had signed them.

This testimony by Najib does not go down well with DPP V Sithambaram who then presses the former prime minister on his ability to identify the documents and his signature at this juncture.

Sithambaram: Because of photocopy, you contended that you cannot confirm your signature, and today you confirm.

Najib: Ya. it depends on the content.

Sithambaram: What content, sir?

Najib: Because I remember this was my instruction.

Sithambaram: So when Ismee (former SRC chairperson Ismee Ismail) told the court he had acted on a shareholder instruction to carry board meetings, you think otherwise?

Najib: Yes.

Sithambaram: Even minutes of the shareholder (instruction) came before the board meeting?

Najib: It is not proper.

Sithambaram: It is not proper. But the minutes came before.

Najib: That's what I'm disputing.

Sithambaram: I'm putting it to you, you are being selective in identifying documents to suit your case for your defence.

Najib: I disagree.

For the record, other documents that Najib is disputing in court include SRC minutes of shareholders' meetings which had his signatures on them.

These minutes were alleged to be instructions to the SRC board of directors to make resolutions, including matters pertaining to investments overseas.

Difficult to get Saudi royal family to testify in court, says Najib

9.45am - Najib Abdul Razak tells the court that it would be difficult for the defence to get a member of the Saudi royal family to testify about the RM2.6 billion donation which he had purportedly received from them in four tranches between 2011 and 2014.

The former prime minister says this when asked by DPP V Sithambaram if any member of the Saudi monarchy would be called to court to vouch for Najib's claim.

Sithambaram: I put to you, from day one, when monies from 2011 to 2014, you knew as a fact these monies never came from the (Saudi) royal family.

Najib: I disagree. Because some of the monies directly came from the Saudi Ministry of Finance.

Sithambaram: Unfortunately, no member of the Saudi royal family would come to court and confirm this, correct, sir?

Najib: We have not, well, it is difficult to have them come to court.

Sithambaram: I also say it's also convenient for you not to call them to court to maintain your story.

Najib: I disagree.

Najib: Jho Low appointed by Saudi royal family as conduit for donation

9.40am - Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak testifies that it was not prudent for him to check directly with the Saudi royal family on their purported donations.

He tells the court that this was because 1MDB-linked businessperson Low Taek Jho (below) had been appointed by the royal family as their conduit for the matter.

Najib says this when being cross-examined by DPP V Sithambaram about the four tranches of donations totalling RM2.6 billion he purportedly received from the then Saudi monarch, King Abdullah Alsaud, between 2011 and 2014.

The court also hears that Najib also did not check whether the US$620 million (about RM2.2 billion), which he had purportedly returned to the monarch's family in 2013, had reached them.

Aussie expert may not be able to come next week, court hears

9.25am - An Australian handwriting expert may not be able to come next week to examine the authenticity of Najib Abdul Razak's alleged signatures on 13 key SRC International documents, the High Court hears.

The former prime minister's defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh informs judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali that this is because of the short notice given for the expert to arrive in Malaysia next week.

Yesterday, Nazlan allowed Najib's application for the expert to examine the disputed documents but directed it to be done before the trial resumes on Feb 3. This means the examination has to be done next week.

"Yang Arif directed for examination to be next week, but we are waiting to confirm," Harvinderjit says.

"It is too short a notice for him to come next week but we will try to confirm with Your Lordship after lunch (today)."

The lawyer adds that subject to confirmation with the expert, the week after next week was all right.

Nazlan then takes note, subject to the defence confirming after lunch whether the expert could come next week or not.

Proceedings resume

9.19am - Najib Abdul Razak enters the witness stand as proceedings begin at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The prosecution may be able to wrap up its cross-examination of Najib Abdul Razak on the 73rd day of the former prime minister's RM42 million SRC International corruption trial.

Yesterday, DPP V Sithambaram indicated to the Kuala Lumpur High Court that he may be able to complete his cross-examination of the accused in today's hearing.

Today would mark the 10th day that Sithambaram has been questioning the former prime minister since Dec 18 last year following the beginning of the trial's defence stage in December.

Yesterday, Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed Najib's application for an Australian handwriting expert to examine the authenticity of his disputed signatures on 13 key documents.

Proceedings yesterday saw Najib testifying that he prevented then second finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah from going to Switzerland to try to recover RM3.6 billion of SRC International's frozen funds there because Husni did not prepare a cabinet paper on the matter.

The same proceedings also saw Najib and Sithambaram in a heated exchange on how the accused could confirm his signature on a photocopied letter granting mandate in relation to one of his bank accounts and yet could not ascertain the authenticity of his signature on the 13 disputed key SRC documents.