KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lawyer said the US$120 million which flowed into Najib’s personal accounts originating from SRC International Sdn Bhd funds had been part of the US$620 million Najib returned to Tanore Finance Corp’s account in 2013.
Angela Barkhouse, a Briton, who is the second witness in the SRC International civil suit seeking to recover from Najib the US$1.18 billion that formed the bulk of the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) loans of RM4 billion, was asked by the former PM’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh about the money that landed in Najib’s personal AmBank account.
Harvinderjit had asked her whether she was aware that the US$120 million was part of the US$620 million that Najib had returned from his Malaysian account to Tanore’s account in Singapore in 2013, to which she replied that she “did not see evidence of this”.
Testifying before judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin via Zoom from the Cayman Islands, Barkhouse denied the suggestion.
Harvinderjit: I am going to suggest to you that the US$120 million from Blackstone to Najib’s account, this money was returned to Tanore via a redemption.
Barkhouse: I haven’t seen anything come back. I have not seen anything (to show that the money had been returned).
Harvinderjit: You see the US$620 million? I’m suggesting that the US$120 million in Najib’s account was part of the funds of US$620 million that went out and back to Tanore in 2013.
Barkhouse: I haven’t seen that evidence.
Apart from this civil suit, Najib is also involved in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) criminal trial, where he is facing 21 money laundering charges, as well as four counts of abuse of power for using his position as then prime minister, finance minister and chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers to receive gratifications worth US$681 million.
It is Najib’s contention in that criminal case that he had returned US$620 million of the US$681 million to the Saudi Royal family via Tanore Finance Corp in 2013, as he thought that they had given him a donation and he had intended to return it.
However, Najib claimed that the money he returned to Tanore Finance Corp was siphoned off by fugitive Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, who was in control of the Tanore Finance Corp account.
Previously, Barkhouse had confirmed through her witness testimony that a portion of the RM4 billion loans from KWAP made its way to a Swiss BSI account, followed by elaborate transactions with Enterprise Emerging Market Fund in Curacao, Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Ltd in the British Virgin Islands, and then to Singapore, where a sum of US$120 million landed in Najib's bank account.
She said the US$120 million was transferred to Najib's accounts in three tranches via Blackstone, with the first tranche of US$70 million transferred on Dec 29, 2011.
The other two tranches were US$25 million each and were transferred on March 12, 2012 and May 22, 2012.
Jho Low's name not linked to offshore entities
During her questioning by Harvinderjit, Barkhouse testified that during her investigations into multiple offshore accounts which were used to misappropriate the RM4 billion KWAP loans, Jho Low’s name did not pop up on official documentation.
She said many of these offshore entities were under the ownership of Eric Tan Kim Loong, a close associate of Jho Low.
Harvinderjit: The Department of Justice said that there’s a connection to Jho Low, you’re not making that connection?
Barkhouse: I can’t make that connection.
Harvinderjit: Bear with me here. Have you been made aware of the bank officers in Singapore who were charged with abetting Jho Low by forging documents to facilitate fund transfers to him?
Barkhouse: I’m aware of the charges, I’m not aware of aiding and abetting…. The DOJ (Department of Justice) had made that connection (to Jho Low). I can’t make that connection.
Harvinderjit pressed her for an answer over Jho Low’s involvement, contending that he had control over these funds.
However, Barkhouse did not agree.
“I think it’s quite presumptuous to say [it was] Jho Low... there were funds that flowed in a circuit. But I didn’t say it was Jho Low. It was based on DOJ that Jho Low was mentioned,” she said.
She was referring to the US DOJ report on the embezzlement of funds from SRC International and 1MDB.
The report states that Jho Low and several associates, such as Tan, were involved in the misappropriation of monies out of SRC International and 1MDB, via the utilising of multiple offshore entities such as Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners and Blackrock Commodities (Global) Ltd.
In this case, SRC International is seeking a declaration from the court that Najib is liable to account for the company's losses of US$1.18 billion due to breach of duties and trust.
Former SRC International managing director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil is also named as a defendant in the suit. Nik Faisal remains at large, and he was last known to be in Indonesia.
SRC International is also asking for an order for Najib to compensate US$120 million and Nik Faisal to pay US$2 million to SRC International, and for the company to be entitled to trace the amount in general, exemplary and aggravated damages.
This civil suit is different from Najib’s SRC International criminal trial, where the former PM was convicted. Najib is currently serving a six-year jail sentence and RM50 million fine, which was recently reduced from a 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine following a partial pardon by the former King.