Nik Faisal : Najib never instructed me to transfer SRC funds

Former SRC International Sdn Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil has admitted that Datuk Seri Najib Razak had never instructed him to transfer the company’s funds into other accounts, including private bank accounts belonging to the former premier.

Nik Faisal had also revealed that Najib had no knowledge on such transfers of funds, some RM42 million, from SRC’s accounts to accounts belonging Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd and Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd as stated in the AmIslamic Bank statement dated between January 1 and 31, 2015.

Malaysian fugitive Nik Faisal, who is now hiding in Indonesia, had revealed this in his witness statement to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

MACC investigating officer Regjit Singh Harbanes Singh recorded Nik Faisal’s witness statement at Manhattan Hotel, Jakarta on October 17, 2015.

“I effected the transactions through Rentas Transfer banking system.
“I acted on my own. No one instructed me,” stated Nik Faisal in his witness statement.

When asked by Regjit Singh on whether Najib instructed him to effect the transfers of SRC funds, Nik Faisal stated: “No. YAB Prime Minister (Najib) had no knowledge of it.”

Najib defence team led by Tan Sri Mohammad Shafee Abdullah had handed over Nik Faisal’s witness statement to Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali during submissions between June 1 and 5 at the end of defence trial in May this year.

Nik Faisal, however, was never called up as a witness for the trial to testify on his witness statement.

But, during the trial, MACC investigating officer of the Najib-SRC case, Rosli Hussain confirmed the contents of Nik Faisal’s witness statement as authentic.

Nik Faisal’s witness statement was never revealed by the prosecution to the court.

That important court document was discovered by the defence team when scrutinising the case documents handed over by the prosecution.

That documents were submitted only this year after the court allowed an application by the defence to compel the prosecution team led by hired counsel Datuk V. Sithambaram to do so.

“Nik Faisal’s key witness statement was applied to be produced by the defence. But subsequently the prosecution served the statement with statement of Eric Tan Kim Loong, amongst others, voluntarily.” said a legal source.

That RM42 million is the subject matter in Najib-SRC corruption trial.

A money trail revealed during the trial showed that the RM42 million funds was then allegedly transferred in stages – RM27 million, RM5 million & RM10 million, via different companies’ accounts to Najib’s private accounts in Ambank.

It also showed that the funds were transferred out from Najib’s accounts into other accounts.

One such money transaction took place on December 29, 2014 under the instruction of another fugitive Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, or commonly known as Jho Low, when Najib, then prime minister, was in Hawaii.

Some RM27 million was transferred out from Najib’s private accounts in AmIslamic Bank to Putra Perdana Development (PPD) accounts without the former premier’s knowledge nor instructions.

This was testified by former AmIslamic Bank officer Joanna Yu Ging Ping during the trial on August 27, 2019.

Joanna Yu was then the bank’s officer-in-charge of managing Najib’s accounts while Nik Faisal was Najib’s authorised person to manage the accounts.

Najib currently faces 7 counts of corruption charges involving SRC International’s RM42 million.

The charges were 3 each for criminal breach of trust (CBT) under Section 409 of the Penal Code and money laundering under Section 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (AMLA) Act 2001, and for abuse of power under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act (MACC) 2009.

The Pekan MP had allegedly committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd in Jalan Raja Chulan and the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya between Aug 17, 2011, and Feb 10, 2015.

Then premier, Najib was also the advisor emeritus and finance minister at the material time when the alleged embezzlement of SRC funds took place.

On November 11, 2019, Mohd Nazlan had ordered Najib to enter his defence against all the charges at the end of the prosecution’s prima facie trial.

The High Court’s verdict on Najib-SRC case will be known on July 28 this year.- https://nthqibord.com/