SRC: A tale to rival the Arabian Nights?

 

Before the advent of Spider-Man or Batman or the Black Panther and other constumed heroes, we thrilled to the adventures of the likes of Tarzan, the Three Musketeers and Sindbad the Sailor.

Just as with Sindbad, most of us would be familiar with, or would have heard of, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, and Aladdin. Some of us would have been told the stories as children; some of us would have read them in our youth; some of us would have seen movie versions – especially Disney versions – of the stories.

Many Malaysians would also have watched P Ramlee’s Ali Baba Bujang Lapok, which is loosely based on Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.

These three stories share a common home – a book called One Thousand and One Nights. Sometimes also referred to as the Arabian Nights.

We were all reminded of this collection of stories by the Court of Appeal which affirmed the High Court’s verdict against Najib Razak in the SRC International case on Dec 8.

The Court of Appeal, just like the High Court earlier, did not accept the argument by Najib Razak’s legal team that the RM42 million in his personal accounts was part of a donation from Saudi Arabian royalty.

It upheld the High Court’s decision to sentence Najib to 12 years in prison and impose a fine of RM210 million after he was found guilty of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering over the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.

The three-member panel of judges comprising Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said on Dec 8: “This tale (that the money was an Arab donation) that surpassed even those from the Arabian Nights, not only lacked credibility, but was contradicted and dispelled by the documentary evidence.”

One Thousand and One Nights, also called Arabian Nights, is a collection of stories that run the gamut from realistic adventures to romance to legends to parables to historical anecdotes to fairy tales. The stories, which developed over several centuries with different people adding to the collection, were popular in the Middle East. They gained world fame after Europeans began publishing them.

I could see the natural temptation for the judges to draw a connection between a donation originating from Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Nights.

But as I pondered on it, I realised that such a reference was very apt.

Before I tell you why I think it’s apt, let me state here that I’m not sure if the judges had this in mind when they made reference to the Arabian Nights.

You see, the Arabian Nights has a frame story and all the other stories fall within this. The frame story, in brief, goes like this: A king by the name of Shahryar kills his wife after discovering her infidelity. He also finds out his sister-in-law has been cheating on his brother.

Feeling women cannot be trusted, the angry Shahryar decides that they should be used and killed. He then marries a virgin every night and beheads her the following morning.

Soon, there are no virgins available except the vizier’s two daughters. The elder daughter, Shahrazad (or Scheherazade in most western versions), marries the king but crafts a plan to stay alive.

Each night she weaves a story, but stops in the morning without concluding the story. The curious king, wanting to know how the story ends, lets her live for another day, and another day and another day. Finally, she succeeds in changing his mind about killing her.
The stories she tells have stories within stories.

For instance, the first night’s story, The Merchant and the Demon, flows over several nights. This story becomes the frame for more stories told by three characters whom she introduces in the main story.

The Arabian Nights is therefore replete with layers of stories, with one layer of narratives atop another. So much so that you can sometimes lose track of the main story.

This is where I see the connection between the Arabian Nights and the remark of the three judges.

In considering the question whether the RM42 million belonged to SRC, the Court of Appeal said the money trail clearly showed that the RM42 million originated from SRC’s AmIslamic Bank account and was transmitted through the bank accounts of Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd (GMSB) and lhsan Perdana Sdn Bhd (IPSB) before being deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

The judges said: “Evidence has established that the flow of these funds, i.e. the RM42 million, through the intermediary companies, namely GMSB and IPSB, was for the purposes of layering the transaction and disguising the flow of funds such that it is made more difficult to track the funds’ nexus to SRC and avoid detection by the authorities.”

The judges are basically saying the layering was intended to mislead the authorities so that those behind the transactions would remain safe.

And in the Arabian Nights, Shahrazad layered her stories to mesmerise the king with the intention of saving her life.

Najib is now taking the case to the Federal Court, the highest court in the nation, to save himself from serving the 12-year prison term and pay the RM210 million fine, and, most importantly, to save his honour.

His defence team will have to prove, among other things, that the Arab donation story should not be equated to the tales found in the Arabian Nights; and that it is fact. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.