SRC TRIAL | Najib Abdul Razak (above), the first former prime minister to be in the dock as an accused, concluded his witness statement to the Kuala Lumpur High Court in his SRC International graft trial today.
Throughout the three days, the time which the court took to go through his 243-page witness statement, a recurring theme for Najib was that he had no knowledge about what was going on with his bank account.
Based on Najib's written witness statement, there were at least 46 instances when the former finance minister said he didn't know or had no knowledge when matters pertaining to the SRC International case were put to him.
There were also at least eight instances when Najib said he was "shocked" when details were revealed to him, mostly on the fact that businessperson Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, was calling the shots when it came to the former prime minister's bank accounts.
Malaysiakini takes a look at some of the highlights of what Najib claimed he didn't know, and what shocked him during his three-day testimony.
What Najib said he didn't know
1) On the fact that SRC International was founded by Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and Vincent Koh Beng Huat, and was only transferred to 1MDB in August 2011.
"No, I don't have knowledge about it. I also never met with Nik Faisal (below) or Koh about SRC... I didn't know about this matter and it is inconsistent with what was shown to me by 1MDB."
2) On SRC wanting a RM3.95 billion loan from Retirement Fund Incorporated, but wrote the application letter to Najib instead.
"No, I didn't realise that SRC planned to apply for a RM3.95 billion loan, nor was I told that the letter would be sent to me."
3) On SRC planning to use RM1.5 billion for a joint-venture project.
"I didn't know about the Aabar-SRC joint-venture until it was reported to me as something that had been concluded by the board of directors."
4) On documents purportedly from Najib giving instructions to SRC International on how to utilise its funds.
"It is not a norm for me to sign such documents, as operational matters require a directors' resolution. I don't know if the documents were referred to the MKD (Finance Minister Incorporated) division."
5) On SRC writing RM53 million in cheques to Mail Global Resources. It was previously reported the mysterious firm was owned by one man who withdrew the money in cash.
"I did not realise about this matter at the time. I do not know what is the role of Mail Global Resources... I only found out when it was shown to me by my lawyers when the trial started."
6) On Najib's relationship with managers at Ambank, namely Joanna Yu, Daniel Lee and Krystal Yap.
"No, I had never dealt with or communicated with any of the individuals personally. At the time, I had instructed (my principal political secretary) Azlin Alias (below) to oversee and manage account 694 and to deal with Jho Low to determine when the donation comes in."
7) On Jho Low giving instruction to Najib's bankers at Ambank.
"I don't know. At no point did I authorise Jho Low to deal with Ambank with regard to account 694".
8) On funds entering Najib's bank account.
"I don't know about the details of every credited transaction into account 694 at the time. But as I have mentioned, I was informed by Azlin periodically about US currency deposited from overseas, information which he said he got from Jho Low".
9) On the identity of the sender of funds into Najib's bank account between 2011 to 2013.
"I don't know about the specific identity of the sender and the transaction. However, I was told the transfer of all foreign currency into account 694 was always reported to Bank Negara Malaysia. Bank Negara Malaysia never raised anything with me."
10) On Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia's (YR1M) source of funding. It was previously reported that YR1M received funds from, amongst others, Genting, which secured highly profitable deals with 1MDB.
"I don't know for sure as YR1M is managed by its own board of trustees, but what I understand is that YR1M receives donations and contributions from corporations."
11) On Najib's bank account being flagged for money laundering.
"I didn't know about this incident. If I had any knowledge about it, I would have immediately checked the transaction in the new accounts as it would show I was not informed about the true situation."
12) On SRC International funds entering Najib's bank account.
"I humbly state that I did not have knowledge of nor involvement in the transfer or situation in which SRC funds were channelled to my account and subsequently deposited to PBSB (Permai Binaraya Sdn Bhd) and PPC (Putra Perdana Construction)."
What Najib said shocked him
1) On Najib's bankers dealing with Jho Low.
"I was shocked why the bank was dealing with Jho Low when I had not authorised any power to be given to him in any way."
2) On Najib's accounts being overdrawn.
"I was shocked. I had never given permission to Azlin (former SRC chief executive officer), Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil or Jho Low to do so. I was never told about the overdrawn situation of my bank accounts."
3) On SRC funds entering Najib's account.
"I was truly shocked with news reports claiming that SRC funds had been channelled to my bank account through IPSB (Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd), and had no knowledge about it at the time".
Najib is standing trial for seven charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power involving RM42 million in funds from SRC International.
The case is being presided by High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali - Mkini
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