KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 25): SRC International Sdn Bhd's former chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil was not the go-between for the company and Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the former prime minister told the court.
The imprisoned former finance minister said that there was no reason for him to be instructing the company's board through a certain individual, because SRC was no exception to how companies under Minister of Finance Inc's (MOF Inc) umbrella was run.
"I was not in any position to micro-manage any [MOF Inc] company, including SRC.
"Further, SRC was only one of the many MOF Inc [companies] that were involved in national interest-related projects at that time. There was no reason for me to be directing the board of SRC through Nik Faisal," he said.
Najib is testifying in his defence in the company's civil action against him, concerning a RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), which was given in two tranches in the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2012 to SRC. This is separate from the SRC criminal case, which Najib is being imprisoned for.
The 71-year-old said that "in his limited meetings" with Nik Faisal, the company CEO represented that the board had decided on the investments after deliberations and due diligence.
This is the second time Najib is testifying in court following his incarceration in August 2022. In March 2023, he testified as a witness in former deputy federal territories minister Datuk Seri Dr Edmund Santhara Kumar's defamation suit against Batu Member of Parliament P Prabakaran.
Again on Wednesday, Najib was seen being wheeled in on a wheelchair. He was seen slowly walking to the stand, with the aid of a walking cane, with him recovering from an acute knee inflammation.
'Nik Faisal may have been playing both sides'
Najib said that in hindsight, Nik Faisal, who is currently on the run, may have been playing "both sides".
"To me, he would hold out that matters had been decided by the board, and to the board, he held out that I had directed on the matters," Najib said.
He said this in response to averments by other board members, such as Tan Sri Ismee Ismail and Datuk Suboh Md Yassin, who had testified in the trial that every board decision needed to be approved by Najib, and that his instructions would be given through Nik Faisal.
Najib said that he was "baffled" as to why SRC directors did not verify matters directly with him and merely accepted Nik Faisal's word.
"This is especially in relation to funds of the company. Tan Sri Ismee, as I mentioned, was an experienced corporate man, with tremendous experience in the way government-linked companies are run. He had my personal contact number, and we met on a number of occasions. Never once was I asked on the matters he said Nik Faisal had represented to the board," Najib said.
Najib also testified that SRC's goal was in line with national development policy of securing economical and continuous supply of energy.
SRC filed the RM4 billion suit against Najib and Nik Faisal in May 2021. Initially, the suit also named former company board members Ismee, Suboh, Datuk Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin, Datok Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, and Datuk Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar as defendants.
They were dropped later, only for Najib to bring them back again as third parties. A defendant can initiate this against a third party who is not part of the main suit, in order to claim any contribution, indemnity or remedy which is claimed by the plaintiff.
As for Nik Faisal, SRC obtained a judgement in default against him in November 2021, after he failed to enter an appearance when the suit was filed.
Out of the total KWAP loan of RM4 billion, SRC claims that a sum of RM3.6 billion was immediately transferred out when the funds came into SRC, of which a sum of US$120 million eventually ended up in Najib’s bank account.
The trial before High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin continues.