KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 24): Malay rights activist Datuk Ibrahim Ali told the High Court that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was dishonest with him about the source of RM600,000 given to him in 2015.
Ibrahim said Najib gave him the impression that the cheque was from the coffers of Umno, and that Najib knew he was committing breach of trust and misappropriation of funds belonging SRC International Sdn Bhd and two of its subsidiaries.
Najib issued the cheque, “even though he knew or ought to have known that he did not have the power to issue it”, Ibrahim said, reading off a prepared statement in Bahasa Malaysia.
“Najib was dishonest to me by giving me the picture that the cheque had originated from his personal account or Umno’s account, and he had the ultimate power to release the cheque,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim was testifying before judge Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan in the RM19.5 million lawsuit brought by SRC and its two subsidiaries against Umno and Umno Selangor. He is now the president of Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia.
SRC had also sued Ibrahim in efforts to recoup the RM600,000, which was misappropriated from its coffers. Both parties had reached an out-of-court settlement with the terms being private.
Unaware of source
Ibrahim claimed he did not know the money came from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and its former subsidiary SRC, as neither of the companies’ names were stated on the cheque, and this was before the 1MDB scandal was exposed.
In the opening statement of the trial on Monday, SRC counsel Razlan Hadri Zulkifli had said that Jendela Pinggiran Sdn Bhd — a subsidiary of SRC ostensibly set up to carry out corporate social responsibility activities — was used as former Umno president Najib’s “slush fund”.
Razlan said they will show that Najib wore "two hats" with conflicting interests, and how he was personally and directly involved in distributing SRC's funds as cash handouts to Umno and Umno Selangor.
On one hand, Najib was the advisor emeritus of SRC, Jendela Pinggiran that received RM43.96 million of SRC funds, and Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd, and on the other hand, he was also the president of the defendants, Umno and Umno Selangor, Razlan noted.
Umno had received RM16 million from Najib, while Umno Selangor received RM3.5 million.
Ibrahim, Umno and Umno Selangor had all received the money in the form of cheques. The cheques were pre-signed by SRC directors and given to Najib to use by former SRC chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, a fugitive on the run.
Dirty money
Ibrahim testified that he had gone to see Najib at his office to ask for reimbursement of political expenses and constituency work. Ibrahim was the Member of Parliament for Pasir Mas, Kelantan, as an independent candidate.
Upon cross-examination by Umno’s lawyer Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman, Ibrahim said he would not have accepted the cheque if he had known the money was from unlawful sources.
Shahrul: You said he wasn’t honest. You said Najib deliberately gave the cheque to you, which was not clean. The RM600,000 Najib gave you was spent; but you know it now. You know that it wasn’t party funds or Najib’s personal funds. You have received it. Will you give it back?
Ibrahim: If I had known it was dirty, then I would have given it back.
Shahrul: But now you know. This is ‘haram’. You must give it back.
Ibrahim: How to give it back? I spent it.
SRC rested its case after Ibrahim was released from the stand. Altogether, the company called four witnesses during the trial this week.
Raja Ahmad then set April 7 and 8 for the defendants, Umno and Umno Selangor, to call their witnesses.
Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) had lent RM4 billion to SRC between 2011 and 2012. Only RM400 million was retained by SRC for working capital in the country, of which RM43.96 million went to Jendela Pinggiran.
Meanwhile, RM3.6 billion was transferred out of the country to SRC’s subsidiary incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, purportedly for overseas investment activities in energy and resources sectors.