SRC trial set to expose a lot of people, says Shafee

Najib Abdul Razak's SRC International trial is set to expose "a lot of people", which will demonstrate that the former prime minister is a victim of manipulation, said his lead defence counsel. 

"This case is very interesting. It is going to expose a lot of people.

"And this is going to be almost like a movie, because the person you suspected the most turns out, I think in the end, to be a victim," Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said.

He was speaking to reporters when met at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex after the ninth day of the trial this evening.

Shafee made the remarks after claiming there is evidence that Najib did not issue banking instructions as claimed, and was even unaware of them due to manipulation.

This included emails that would allegedly demonstrate an attempt to block Najib's bank statements from reaching his office and residence.

"That will come up in the emails. Because between (then Ambank relationship manager) Joanna Yu and somebody else, there are emails that say, 'Do not show this to the Prime Minister's Office'.

"And (when) Joanna said 'Can we send to 11 Langgak Duta (address of Najib's residence)’, somebody said, 'No no no no, super sensitive, do not send'," he said.

Mismatched signatures

Shafee was also asked to comment on today's hearing, which saw Ambank’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch manager R Uma Devi continuing with her testimony from the previous day as the prosecution's 21st witness.

The manager had concluded her witness statement, where she confirmed documents, including transactions involving bank accounts that belonged to Najib, SRC International, and several other companies.

She was then cross-examined by Najib's defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh.

Shafee claimed that the defence's questioning of alleged non-matching signatures in some of the documents would support their main line of defence - that Najib had not made the instructions.

'When you fax it, you can just cut and paste'

"When you compare the hard copy and soft copy (of some banking instructions tendered in the court)... because for you to forge the hard copy to the bank, you have to physically forge it or get the real person to sign it.

"But when you fax it, you can just cut and paste. You cut and paste the signatures, in this case, Suboh’s (SRC director Suboh Md Yassin) for instance, so when it goes to you in the fax or email, it looks like Suboh signed (the document), when in fact we are confident he did not sign it.

"A lot of signatures were forged without Najib's knowledge,” he alleged.

Shafee said the "copy and paste" method was the reason why Suboh’s signature was purported to be “exactly identical” on certain documents.

The lawyer also claimed that there were email conversations that would show Ambank's relationship manager confirming banking transactions with a third party, instead of Najib and the person entrusted to manage his accounts, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.

According to Shafee, this included alleged conversations between Joanna Yu and fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.

During the trial earlier today, Harvinderjit had raised the issue of the purported mismatching signatures in documents authorising the transfer of monies in relation to accounts linked to Najib's case.

While cross-examining Uma Devi, the lawyer showed her exhibits of documents authorising the transfer of RM5 million from SRC International to Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd's account.

He claimed that the signatures on documents purportedly authorising the transfer do not match.

Harvinderjit likened the non-matching signatures to "chalk and cheese".

On Wednesday, during the examination-in-chief, Uma Devi testified that Najib had authorised SRC International director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil to manage his Ambank accounts.

Faisal had the authority to request bank statements and verify cheques up to RM250,000 on behalf of the former prime minister, among others. - Mkini