This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 3, 2019 - July 9, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR: Prosecution witness Datuk Suboh Md Yassin countered the defence’s contention that SRC International Sdn Bhd’s former managing director (MD) Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil had forged, copied and abused his signature by saying that Nik Faisal was emboldened to do so as he had a “mountain” behind him.
Suboh quoted the Chinese idiom yesterday — which means to have the backing of a powerful person — as former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence sought to pin the blame on the missing man.
The frail 68-year-old replied to defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh’s assertion that Nik Faisal was a smart fellow capable of forging signatures by saying if he dared to do so, it was probably because he had the backing of someone strong.
“He (Nik Faisal) is emboldened by his position. He is a powerful person and he has somebody behind him. As the Chinese proverb goes, the mountain is behind him,” said the witness with a smile.
While Suboh did not name the person supporting Nik Faisal, he did highlight that the addition of Article 117 into SRC’s memorandum and articles of association had altered the power structure of the company.
Earlier, SRC’s former chairman Tan Sri Ismee Ismail testified that the inclusion of the article — done after a board meeting in April 2012 — gave Najib the position of SRC’s adviser emeritus and control of the company.
Their exchange began when Harvinderjit sought to disprove the notion that Nik Faisal was SRC’s only connection to Najib by showing Suboh that board meeting minutes outlining the former MD’s duties and terms of employment did not include any such role.
While the witness agreed that it was not explicitly stated, he pointed out Nik Faisal had told the board that he had had high-level meetings with Najib that were minuted, detailing instructions for the board.
When the defence counsel tried to say that these were only the former MD’s claims, Suboh said these were captured in meeting minutes.
Prior to this, Ismee produced the minutes of Nik Faisal’s meeting with Najib on Sept 7, 2011, with the meeting discussed by the board in its meeting on Sept 13, 2011.
The minutes stated that Najib had told Nik Faisal to transfer RM1.8 billion of the first RM2 billion loan from Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) or the Retirement Fund Inc to a Swiss Bank and a Hong Kong bank.
Defence focused on inconsistencies
The theme of the defence’s argument yesterday appeared to be about inconsistencies.
Firstly, they zoomed in on the dissimilarities of his signatures in physical and digital versions of documents that include those directing the transfers of funds, firstly from SRC to its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd — where Suboh was also a director — and thereafter from the subsidiary to SRC’s charity partner, Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd.
A total of RM42 million from Ihsan Perdana was eventually channelled into Najib’s personal bank accounts between December 2014 and February 2015.
The defence also tried to show that Suboh was inconsistent in his statements to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, whom he met six times from Nov 27, 2015 to April 30, 2019.
They focused on his statements recorded on Aug 13 and 15, 2018, highlighting that when he first met officers in Abu Dhabi on Nov 27, 2015, he told them that the signatures on the Real-time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities System (Rentas) forms for transfers from SRC and Gandingan Mentari were his, but in a subsequent interview on May 28 and 30 last year, he said the signatures were not his.
Nonetheless, when he met the commission officers again on Aug 13 and 15 last year, he said the signatures were his.
Suboh agreed with the defence on the irregularities of his statements.
Najib is facing seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power involving RM42 million of SRC funds.