DEBUNKED

Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 25

June 14, 2019

233

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Defence postpones pursuing alleged contradictions in Ismee’s witness statement.

9.07am: Former prime minister Najib Razak enters court and takes a seat in the front row of the public gallery to await proceedings to begin.

Also seen in court is his defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh and other members of the defence team, as well as Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and other DPPs.

9.10am: Najib enters the dock as proceedings begin.

Najib’s lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah enters court a short while later.

Former SRC International chairperson Ismee Ismail takes the stand.

9.15am: Harvinderjit informs the court that the defence will make a decision later on their next course of action, following perusal of Ismee’s court transcripts.

“We have looked at the transcripts over the past four days (of trial). We will deal (with it by making a decision) in due course,” the lawyer informs High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Yesterday, the court allowed the defence’s application to adjourn the trial to today in order to check for alleged material contradiction in Ismee’s oral evidence in court since Monday.

Ismee repeats an earlier statement that he has never met Najib in his capacity as SRC board chairman from 2011 and 2014.

Ismee agrees with Harvinderjit’s statement that Najib was not a shareholder of SRC by early 2012, and that the entity was owned by the Ministry of Finance Inc.

Ismee, however, maintains that the board’s decisions were in accordance with Najib’s instructions.

9.30am: DPP V Sithambaram interjects the cross-examination on Ismee, saying that Harvinderjit was going too fast with his questions.

Sithambaram says that Harvinderjit should allow Ismee to understand questions posed to him properly and give him time to answer.

This takes place when Ismee is seen having a hard time grasping questions from Harvinderjit regarding the decision-making process of the SRC board of directors in 2011.

At one point, Ismee is heard asking Harvinderjit to repeat and rephrase his question, which delved into whether the board had independence in making a decision.

10.40am: Court stands down for short break.

11am: Court resumes and Sithambaram addresses Nazlan before cross-examination starts. He tells the judge that they have found a document that had gone missing about a shareholders’ resolution.

Sithambaram: Yesterday when we adjourned the matter for review evidence, we came across the document which my learned friend (Harvinderjit) has been asking for the witness (Ismee) to produce many times. We actually sent the document they requested and it has been served long ago. The issue has always been if there has been an ultimate shareholder’s resolution. I bring it up so my learned friend can ask about it during cross-examination. I do not want them to later say that we sprung a surprise.

Harvinderjit: I question why you point out this document. My cross-examination is almost finished, it would have been appropriate to raise it after I am finished. Our reading of the evidence-in-chief (of Ismee) suggests that there was another resolution, but none was shown to him (Ismee). I will come to that in due course.

Sithambaram: I am not trying to cast prejudice on the defence. Just trying to point out the document. I just want to make sure there is no delay (in the proceedings).

Harvinderjit then resumes cross-examining of the 39th witness.

11.05am: Ismee agrees that Najib was never a signatory of the company’s bank accounts, and thus could not have been directly involved in disbursing RM1.8 billion for overseas investment.

The funds came from an RM2 billion loan given to SRC International from the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP).

He says this while being cross-examined on whether it was the company’s board of directors that made the decision to send the RM1.8 billion overseas.

Harvinderjit was referring to documents in which SRC’s director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil told the board that an application had been made to Bank Negara for the remittance of the RM1.8 billion.

11.40am: Ismee says he doesn’t know when the funds were transferred out from SRC’s account.

When he went to Switzerland to see if the RM1.5 billion was safe in the account, he didn’t know if that was part of the RM2 billion loan given by KWAP to SRC.

Ismee also agrees with Harvinderjit’s contention that he (Ismee) was also unsure whether any funds from the KWAP loan were transferred to international banks like Falcon Bank or Julius Baer Bank in Hong Kong.

KWAP issued an RM4 billion loan to SRC between August 2011 and March 2012.

12.20pm: Ismee and Harvinderjit disagree over the transfer of SRC’s ownership from 1MDB to the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc) in 2012.

This happens when Harvinderjit suggests to Ismee that the ownership transfer was mooted by the company itself, instead of under the instruction of MoF Inc.

In making this suggestion, the lawyer points to an SRC board of directors’ meeting in February 2012.

During the meeting, Nik Faisal had supposedly told the board about the instruction to transfer the company’s ownership.

The instruction came from MoF Inc through then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Nor Yakcop, who was in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, according to Harvinderjit.

Ismee, however, disagrees with the suggestion that SRC mooted the ownership transfer.

He tells Harvinderjit that the lawyer’s assumption was based on unfounded implications from a letter dated Jan 9, 2012.

12.30pm: Court adjourns until Monday with Ismee’s cross-examination to continue.

Earlier reports:

Jun 13, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 24

Jun 12, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 23

Jun 11, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 22

Jun 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 21

May 28, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 20

May 27, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 19

May 15, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 18

May 14, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 17