The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd enters its 18th day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Defence protests MACC order to block access to AmBank files
- 'BN and Umno chiefs determined target groups for CSR activities'
- Ihsan Perdana established for 1MDB's CSR activities - witness
- Witness assumed RM27m transferred to AmBank account for CSR purposes
- SRC and Gandingan Mentari gave Ihsan Perdana RM123m
- Ihsan Perdana received funding from 1MDB, YR1M for CSR activities
- RM42m transferred to Najib's accounts for CSR purposes - witness
- Ex-worker testifies Ihsan Perdana received RM50m in 3 transactions
- Letter of guarantee backdated due to preparation with loan facility
Defence protests MACC order to block AmBank file access
1.45pm - The trial resumes with the defence team voicing its dissatisfaction to the judge over an order issued by the MACC to AmBank, which has blocked Najib and his legal counsels from obtaining documents related to his now-closed bank accounts.
Defence lawyers Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (below) and Harvinderjit Singh tell the court that AmBank had been providing the defence with the necessary documents to prepare for Najib's defence for the past year and a half.
This, they add, came to a stop recently when an AmBank officer told the lawyers that the bank had been instructed by MACC not to provide any document pertaining to Najib's accounts without the anti-graft agency’s permission.
Shafee tells the court that the order is affecting the preparation of his client’s defence and verification of key documents.
"These documents we are obliged and entitled to. The account holder is always entitled to documents when the account is either ongoing or has been closed […] to know what had been transacted.
"(There is) no basis for MACC to either hog this or do this. They can’t do this, because this is my client’s account," Shafee says.
He claims that the order was given by an MACC investigating officer identified as Rosli.
The defence tells the judge that they have also sent an email on the matter for the court to decide.
A member of the prosecution then tells the court that they will need to discuss the matter first before responding, as the email sent by the defence was only received moments before the court took a break at 1pm.
Proceedings resume
1.43pm - Proceedings resume before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
Court breaks for lunch, prayer
1pm - The court goes for a 30-minute break to allow those who are not fasting to have quick lunch and for Muslims to conduct their Zuhur prayer.
Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali orders the court to resume at 1.30pm tentatively.
The prosecution is expected to resume their examination-in-chief on 37th witness, Dr Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman, who is a former 1MDB executive director and former Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd director.
'BN and Umno chiefs determined target groups for CSR activities'
12.45pm - Former Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd managing director Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman testifies that Yayasan 1MDB (Y1MDB) and Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M) each gave annual funding grants of RM20 million to the company, beginning in 2011.
According to his witness statement, the funds from Y1MDB was meant for Ihsan Perdana to carry out corporate social responsibility activities in Malay areas won by Umno or BN.
Meanwhile, he said, the funds from YR1M were meant for corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes in Chinese and Indian areas won by the party.
Among the activities conducted by Ihsan Perdana were:
- Program Khas Haji Perdana, which sent imams and village heads on hajj pilgrimages;
- Nadi Kasih, which repaired houses for the poor;
- Insan Samudera, which assisted fishermen; and
- Jalinan Murni, which provided special assistance for the Orang Asli.
"The CSR programmes were planned by Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd. However, the target group was determined by MPs from BN or Umno division chiefs.
"Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd also prepared programme reports annually," the witness testifies.
Ihsan Perdana established for 1MDB's CSR activities - witness
12.30pm - The prosecution calls its 37th witness, Dr Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman (below), who used to be one of 1MDB executive directors between 2010 and 2011 before heading Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd.
According to his testimony, Ihsan Perdana's establishment came after he was ordered by 1MDB board of directors to set up a company, with the purpose of taking over 1MDB's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
"The proposal (was) to set up a private limited company when 1MDB board of directors found that there was a conflict of interest for 1MDB to conduct CSR activities.
"I do not know why Yayasan 1MDB did not continue to carry out CSR activities, as I know that it can do CSR but does not have the capacity.
"From the discussion in the board of directors meeting, I was ordered to find a shell company to take over CSR works," he testifies.
Shamsul, 58, who now runs a private clinic in Kelana Jaya, then tells the court that he was suggested by a company secretary, one Rashidi Md Deris, to take over Gem Horizon Sdn Bhd.
He says 1MDB board of directors then ordered him to let go of his position in 1MDB, and take up CSR jobs through Gem Horizon which was then changed to its current name Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd.
According to Shamsul, he and one Haji Aziz started holding shares of Ihsan Perdana of RM1 each from July 25, 2011.
Witness assumed RM27m transferred to AmBank account for CSR purposes
11.35am - Witness Aishah Ghazali acknowledges that Ihsan Perdana's managing director Dr Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman never specifically told her that the RM27 million transferred from Ihsan Perdana to one of former premier Najib Abdul Razak's AmBank accounts was meant for corporate social responsibility (CSR) purposes.
She tells the court this during cross-examination by Najib's lawyer Farhan Read.
Farhan: He (Shamsul) never said the payment was for CSR?
Aishah: We understood it to mean CSR because Ihsan Perdana carries out CSR programmes (for clients) and I felt that it (RM27 million) was for CSR.
Farhan: You gave your answer based on the amount paid. You agree the amount is quite substantial at RM27 million? For example, buying office equipment only cost thousands of ringgit, so your assumption that this large payment amount was for a CSR programme?
Aishah: I do not remember if Datuk Dr (Shamsul) informed (me about the purpose of the transfer) or not.
Farhan: So it was just (your) assumption that it was for CSR programme?
Aishah: Correct.
The RM 27 million sum in question was transferred to Najib's AmBank account ending with the numbers 880 on Dec 26, 2014.
Earlier, Aishah testified that a total of RM42 million was transferred from Ihsan Perdana's Affin Bank account to two AmBank accounts ending with the numbers 880 and 906 respectively.
It was previously established that both accounts belonged to Najib.
The transfers were conducted via remittance forms signed by Shamsul and Ihsan Perdana's finance director Abdul Aziz Ismail, and took place on Dec 26, 2014, and Feb 10, 2015.
SRC and Gandingan Mentari gave Ihsan Perdana RM123m
11am - Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd received a total of RM123 million from SRC International and its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd between 2014 and 2015, the court hears from prosecution witness Aishah Ghazali.
The former senior account executive at Ihsan Perdana agrees with defence counsel Farhan Read that the corporate social responsibility company received RM20 million from SRC International, while RM103 million was transferred from Gandingan Mentari.
She also testifies that another RM20 million that Ihsan Perdana received in its Affin Bank account was of unknown origin.
During the cross-examination, Aishah had earlier testified that, to the best of her knowledge, there were no ties between Ihsan Perdana and the two companies.
She tells the court that Ihsan Perdana only received funds from two clients, namely 1MDB and Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M).
The court then goes for a short break at 11.10am.
Ihsan Perdana received funding from 1MDB, YR1M for CSR activities
10.50am - Witness Aishah Ghazali testifies that her former workplace Ihsan Perdana received funding from 1MDB and Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M) to conduct corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
She tells the court this during cross-examination by defence counsel Farhan Read.
Farhan: Where did Ihsan Perdana received funds from?
Aishah: 1MDB and YR1M. They gave funds to Ihsan Perdana to carry out CSR.
Farhan: Aside from 1MDB and YR1M, were there any other sources of funding for Ihsan Perdana?
Aishah: No.
YR1M was a charitable foundation chaired by former premier Najib Abdul Razak.
It came into the spotlight after receiving an RM35 million donation from the Genting Group prior to the 13th general election under its previous name, Yayasan Gemilang 1Malaysia.
There were speculations that the donations were related to the general election, but the link was never clearly established at the time because Yayasan Gemilang 1Malaysia changed its name to YR1M after receiving the donation.
RM42m transferred to Najib's accounts for CSR purposes - witness
10am - 36th witness Aishah Ghazali testifies that the RM42 million transferred from Ihsan Perdana's Affin Bank account to two AmBank accounts belonging to former premier Najib Abdul Razak between Dec 2014 and Feb 2015 was for the purpose of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Aishah, who is a former senior accounts executive with Ihsan Perdana, tells DPP Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul that the transactions were conducted based on orders given to her by Ihsan Perdana's managing director Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman.
"The RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million I confirm have been sent out from IPSB (Ihsan Perdana) account to the receiver accounts at AmBank on Shamsul Anwar's orders.
"All the transfers were for CSR," she tells judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
She confirms that she filled out the remittance forms for the transfers of RM27 million and RM5 million on Dec 26, 2014. The former amount was transferred to AmBank account ending with the numbers 880, while the latter amount was transferred to AmBank account ending with the numbers 906.
She adds that she filled out the remittance form for RM10 million on Feb 10, 2015, which was transferred to AmBank account ending with the numbers 880.
The AmBank accounts ending with the numbers 880 and 906 were previously established as belonging to the former premier.
In a previous testimony, AmBank Raja Chulan branch manager R Uma Devi testified that identical transactions took place.
Ihsan Perdana received RM50m in three transactions, ex-worker testifies
9.40am - Former Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd (Ihsan Perdana) senior accounts executive Aishah Ghazali takes the stand as the prosecution's 36th witness.
She testifies that the company, which was previously known as Gem Horizon Sdn Bhd, was a corporate social responsibility company that carried out related activities for other entities that engaged its services.
During examination-in-chief by DPP Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul, Aishah confirms to the court that between Dec 24, 2014 and Feb 6, 2015, there were three transactions through which Ihsan Perdana received a total of RM50 million in its Affin Bank account.
The witness also tells the court that as a senior account executive with the company, she worked under the orders of Ihsan Perdana managing director Shamsul Anuar Sulaiman and finance director Abdul Aziz.
She then identifies Shamsul Anuar in the court.
Letter of guarantee backdated as it was being prepared with loan facility
9.20am - Witness Azlida Mazni Arshad agrees that a letter of guarantee from the Finance Ministry was backdated prior to the ministry informing the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) of the impending document, as it was being prepared together with a syariah-compliant loan facility for the RM2 billion loan to SRC International in March 2012.
Azlida (above) is vice-president of legal and secretarial affairs for the civil servant retirement fund.
Yesterday, she testified that the Finance Ministry had sent a letter to KWAP dated Mar 28, 2012, informing the retirement fund that a letter of guarantee for the SRC International loan would be delivered 10 days later from the date of the letter.
The subsequent letter of guarantee was dated March 27, 2012.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh today, Azlida agrees with his question that the letter of guarantee's date is the same as that of the asset sale agreement and asset purchase agreement related to the syariah-compliant loan facility to SRC International.
Harvinderjit: The dating of the letter of guarantee is the same as that of asset sale agreement and asset purchase agreement of Mar 27, 2012. The three were all stamped and more likely done together?
Azlida: Yes.
9.11am - Najib Abdul Razak enters the dock as judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali enter court to begin proceedings.
Lawyer Harvinderjit Singh resumes his cross-examination of 35th witness Azlida Mazni Arshad.
9am - Clad in a cream-coloured suit, accused Najib Abdul Razak comes into court and takes a seat in the front row of the public gallery while awaiting for proceedings to begin.
Also seen at the front of court are members of Najib's defence team, as well as Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and other members of the prosecution.
Najib's lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is seen entering court a short while later.
As Najib Abdul Razak’s RM42 million SRC International trial enters its 18th day today, the decision-making process that led to Retirement Fund Incorporated’s (KWAP) approval of a total RM4 billion in loans to SRC International has come to the forefront.
With proceedings before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali to start at 9am, KWAP vice-president of legal and secretarial affairs Azlida Mazni Arshad will be further cross-examined by the former prime minister’s defence team.
Of added interest is that Najib’s defence team adopting a tactic of trying to disassociate their client from KWAP’s decision making process on approving the RM4 billion loans, split into two tranches of RM2 billion in Aug 2011 and RM2 billion in March 2012.
Yesterday through a series of questions, lawyer Harvinderjit Singh elicited agreement from the 35th witness that KWAP’s investment panel did not need the approval of cabinet members to make a decision, is not bound by the cabinet, and that it is not allowed to lend money unless it is satisfied that the fund would make money off the loan.
Under cross-examination, Azlida also agreed that the panel did not minute any instructions from then prime minister Najib to approve a RM3.95 billion loan to SRC International, that the panel deferred its decision which suggested that it was not rushed into a decision, and that Najib’s handwritten note which appeared on SRC International’s proposed RM3.95 billion loan did not amount to an instruction.
Previously during examination-in-chief by the prosecution, Azlida testified that Najib had urged KWAP's chairperson Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah to expedite SRC International's proposal for an RM3.95 billion loan from the fund.
The panel eventually greenlighted a loan for RM2 billion after securing a government guarantee in 2011.
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