Former minister tells court he lied to cover for Najib

SRC TRIAL | Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah admitted today that he lied when he said his resignation as second finance minister in 2016 was not due to the 1MDB scandal, because he wanted to cover for then-premier Najib Abdul Razak.

"I wanted to cover the real story. I didn't want to tell the true story to the newspapers, then they would write all kinds of things.

"I did not tell the truth, I was covering for the prime minister," he told the Kuala Lumpur High Court when testifying as the 56th witness in Najib's SRC International graft trial.

Lead defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had questioned Husni about his public statements that his resignation has nothing to do with 1MDB.

Despite trying to cover for Najib (photo), however, Husni alleged that the former premier engineered a sexual harassment allegation against him.

He said this when Shafee zoomed in on his speech to the Dewan Rakyat on October 24, 2016, four months after he resigned from his ministerial post.

"I quit, but you see on social media, two days after I quit, they were attacking me for no reason, and I know who are the 'ABC' who attacked me. Why play this game?" he told the Dewan at the time.

Shafee asked what these allegations were about, to which Husni replied "money and women."

Shafee: You associate (the sexual harassment claim) with Najib?

Husni: Yes.

Shafee: A sexual harassment (allegation) by your own staffer. You think Najib is behind the sexual harassment report against you by your own female staffer?

Husni: Yes.

Shafee: There was a police report lodged against you?

Husni: Yes.

Deputy public prosecutor V Sithambaram protested against this line of questioning, however.

"The witness is angry for a good reason... Integrity cannot be questioned in a scandalous and insulting manner when it has nothing to do with the matter in court," he said.

Shafee argued that the credibility of a witness is important, but judge Nazlan Mohd Ghazali finally agreed with the prosecution and disallowed his question.

During cross-examination, Husni also revealed that Najib had wanted to transfer him to the Housing and Local Government Ministry and refused to retain him as the second finance minister, which prompted his resignation.

Husni said he initially learned about his possible transfer from newspapers, which said he may be reassigned as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).

"I said to the prime minister 'I understand you are going to transfer me. He said 'Yes, I am going to transfer you to local government', and I said 'Please sir, I have done the (1MDB) rationalisation plan.

"Nobody helped when we were in trouble, nobody helped you except myself. And I have only two years left before the 2018 general election. Let me stay there.

"The prime minister said 'I want you to go to a new ministry for a new challenge,' and I said 'Please drop me, thank you'."

Husni said he not only resigned because he was being transferred out from the Finance Ministry, but also because of "Allah."

Husni was appointed as the second finance minister in 2009 but resigned in June 2016.

The former premier is standing trial on seven charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million from SRC International.

He is accused of receiving the sum as kickbacks for approving RM4 billion in loans to SRC International from the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP).

Najib has denied wrongdoing or using public funds for personal gain.

SRC International was initially a subsidiary of 1MDB, and was later transferred to the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc). - Mkini