Prosecution grills Najib on SRC RM2b loan even before board was formed

SRC TRIAL | The Kuala Lumpur High Court today heard that SRC International had applied for its first loan in 2011 before members of its first board of directors (BoD) were appointed.

This was pointed out by attorney-general Tommy Thomas when he was cross-examining former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak (above), who was testifying in his defence in the SRC International criminal trial.

According to letters laid out in the court by Thomas, SRC International had sent two loan applications to the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) in June and July 2011, seeking RM3.95 billion and RM2 billion respectively.

For the record, it had been established earlier during the trial that SRC applied for the RM2 billion in July 2011, after KWAP turned down its initial request for RM3.95 billion.

As Najib confirmed that the loan applications were each dated in June and July 2011, Thomas then pointed out to Najib's letter dated Aug 1, 2011 where he appointed seven people to SRC's BoD.

Using this as a point, the prosecutor pressed Najib, saying that this was contrary to Najib's earlier testimony claiming that all his actions as chairperson of SRC board advisers were made under advice of the company's BoD.

Thomas: You would agree these seven documents signifying decisions relating to SRC, (were) done before directors were appointed on 1st August 2011. All were before the appointment of the directors. That is a fact.

Najib: Formal appointment. But they may have been suggested by the Lembaga Pengarah (board of directors). I have to check on that. But the formal appointment was on August 1.

Thomas: You said on many occasions when I asked about your role as chairperson of SRC board of advisers, your standard answer yesterday was that all the steps taken (by SRC) were upon the advice of the board of directors of SRC. You remember that?

Najib: Yes. If the advice was sought by the board.

Thomas: How could you have received such advice relating to these seven documents P356 to P372 when the board of directors was non-existent?

Najib: It must have been forwarded by the CEO back then.

Thomas (above) then puts it to Najib, suggesting that all the decisions had been made personally on his directives.

However, Najib disagreed with the suggestion.

No further question

During a later part of today's proceedings, the court also heard from Najib that he supported SRC International's second application for a government guarantee to get another RM2 billion loan in 2012.

Najib testified that he had confidence in the company, albeit agreeing that he did not know where the first RM2b borrowed by SRC went.

According to the Pekan MP, he did ask SRC what happened to the first tranche, and was told that the company had set the money "aside for investment purposes".

"That was what I was told," he said.

This brought Thomas to query Najib if he had asked SRC specifically on the whereabouts of the first RM2b.

Thomas: Did it remain as cash in the bank?

Najib: I was not sure. But I asked them, and they said it was for investment purposes

Thomas: Did you ask them?

Najib: I didn't ask them where the money was. They said for investment

To this, Thomas then put to Najib that he had acted wrongly by not asking further questions of SRC, but was satisfied with what it had done with the first loan.

Najib disagreed. - Mkini