The Malaysian Insight

NAJIB Razak is expected to conclude his examination-in-chief today, the fourth day of the defence stage of the SRC International trial.

The former prime minister concluded reading out his 243-page witness statement yesterday, where he addressed allegations that he misappropriated RM42 million of public funds.

The examination-in-chief is expected to be conducted by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Najib, who is the first defence witness, will later be cross-examined by the prosecution led by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas.

Yesterday, Najib testified that he never checked with Wisma Putra to authenticate if it was the late king Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia who allegedly transferred large amounts of money into his accounts from 2011 to 2014.

Najib said the alleged donation was received not long after he met the king in early 2010. The former finance minister said Bank Negara never raised any red flag and that as a result, he believed the donation was genuine.

He also defended several credit-card transactions between 2014 and 2015, saying spending at a luxury stores in Italy, for example, was to further diplomatic relations with Qatar.

Najib also claimed that the US$130,625 (RM544,000) charged to his credit card at Chanel in Honolulu was for an anniversary gift for his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

He also explained why he didn’t lodge a police report in 2015 regarding irregularities in his Ambank accounts as he did not want to be seen to be intervening in ongoing investigations at the time.

Najib also read out a 2016 media statement by former attorney-general Apandi Ali, which cleared the Pekan MP of all wrongdoing.

After the prosecution questioned the veracity of the media statement, the defence informed the court it would be calling Apandi as a witness to verify his statement.  

Najib’s charges in the SRC International trial are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to the entity in 2011 and 2012, for which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in 2014 and 2015.

Hearing of the defence stage is scheduled until December 19, before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

The Malaysian Insight brings you today’s proceedings live:

4.27pm: Court adjourns till tomorrow.

4.16pm: Thomas puts it to Najib that KWAP had taken Najib’s approval of Nik Faisal’s proposal to allow the loan to be approved. 

Najib: Why are you saying I approved? It is in the law, and the law states that the investment panel must approve it. Not me. 

Tommy: If we were following the law, we wouldn’t be here. 

Najib: Yes, but you are the AG. You should know the law.

3.49pm: Tommy suggests to judge Nazlan that the hearing continues until 4.45pm without intermission.

Nazlan tells Tommy to check with witness if he is ok to proceed without a break.

Najib asks if court could adjourn at 4.30pm if that is to be the case.

3.30pm: Tommy says SRC was formed in January 4, 2011 and it was signed off by two subscribers, Nik Faisal and Vincent Koh Beng Huat. 

He asks Najib why there were two directors.

Najib says it was a purely administrative move.

3.14pm: Tommy asks Najib about Dr Mahathir’s management of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

He asks if Najib had borrowed from his predecessor’s wisdom in dealing with the 2008 financial crisis when the accused became finance minister. 

Najib says when he took over as the finance minister in 2008, the country’s fiscal deficit was at 6.7%. He says by the end of 2017, the fiscal deficit had been reduced to 3%. 

3pm: Najib tells court he did not instruct KWAP to approve loans while he was prime minister.

2.43pm: Hearing resumes

12.51pm: Court takes a lunch break.

12.41pm: Tommy asks Najib who came up with the name of 1MDB.

Najib says the name came from the management.

Tommy: Wasn’t it your personal choice?

Najib: No.

Najib insists that he didn’t abuse his power as prime minister when he fired his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, and former rural development minister Shafie Apdal during a cabinet reshuffle in 2015.

Both were removed after publicly voicing their disagreement over Najib’s handling of 1MDB.

“I sacked them because they made statements in public when it should have been done in a cabinet meeting,” says Najib.

12.40pm: Tommy asks Najib what was it like holding the two toughest positions simultaneously. 

Najib says he was not the first prime minister to hold both portfolios. He says Dr Mahathir and Ahmad Abdullah Badawi did the same. 

Najib says he also had two second finance ministers to help him.

12.34pm: Tommy asks Najib if he was an economist or a businessman which qualified him for the post of finance minister.

Najib says he has a foundation in economics and that he was the Pahang menteri besar.

Najib says he was interested in adding to his knowledge of economics, and that he had seen no reason why he couldn’t appoint himself to be finance minister.

12.30pm: Tommy again asks why Najib did ”self-select” himself to be the finance minister.

Najib says it was because he believed he could bring improve the economy. He says he saw the  “bigger picture”.

Najib says that during his tenure as the finance minister, the Malaysian economy grew at a faster rate than that of the four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan).

12.22pm: Tommy goes through list of questions about Najib’s political positions, duties and responsibilities.

11.44am: Tommy asks Najib if he was his “own finance minister” when he decide to keep the portfolio after he became the prime minister.

Najib says the prime minister has the power to appoint the finance minister.

“There is a connotation there, the prime minister has the power to appoint the finance minister. Yes, I was the finance minister.”

11.23am: Tommy asks Najib about time in Umno and whether he supported Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) in 1987 when the party was split into two factions.

Tengku Razaleigh formed Semangat 46 to oust Dr Mahathir, the then prime minister and party president.

Najib asks if the question is relevant to this trial.

Tommy says it is since there is no objection.

Najib answers and says he supported Dr Mahathir.

11.16am: Tommy Thomas starts cross-examining Najib.

He questions Najib in English, who responds in Bahasa Malaysia.

10.56am: The trip to Hawaii was a family trip in conjunction with Rosmah’s birthday. However, Najib had to leave early because of the massive floods in Kelantan. Najib says his family were upset because he had to cut short the trip.

So, Najib bought the watch to placate Rosmah.

The trip was also an opportunity to establish a strong relationship with then US president Barack Obama at a golf course.

10.50am: Shafee questions Najib about his trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. He zeroes in on the US$130,625 from Chanel in Honolulu on December 22, 2014.

Najib says the watch was Rosmah’s choice.

10.40am: Shafee asks if Najib was directly involved in the formation of SRC International, to which he replies that he wasn’t involved directly but told it was 1MDB management’s suggestion.

10.37am: Shafee asks Najib if anyone warned him about Jho Low and the “odd things” occurring in 1MDB.

Najib replies that a few people told him to question and enquire about Jho Low, because of his knowledge on fund transfers.

10.26am: Shafee asks Najib about the formation of 1MDB.

Najib repeats the answer in his written statement that 1MDB is not his brainchild and was formed because of Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which later became 1MDB after the federal government took over TIA.

10am: Shafee asks Najib if he lodged a police report on the signatures, to which he replied that during his tenure, he signed thousands of documents.

Najib reiterates that it’s necessary to get an expert from Australia on the authenticity of the documents and his signature.

9.53am: Referring to certain exhibits, Shafee asks if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission showed Najib the documents when asked to verify his signature.

Najib says yes and told MACC what his signature is like.

9.46am: In the additional statement, Najib tells of suspicion about the authenticity of his signature in certain documents submitted to the court.

As advised by his lawyer, Najib says it’d be better if an Australian document expert can verify them.

9.26am: Najib takes the stand. Shafee tells Nazlan defence has additional six-page statement.

9.20am: Court in session. – December 10, 2019.