Najib Shifted Blame To Others To Cover Up His Dishonesty - SRC Counsel

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Counsel for SRC International Sdn Bhd told the High Court here today that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak repeatedly shifted blame onto others to cover up his own dishonesty in the misappropriation of RM3.95 billion from civil servants’ pension funds.

SRC counsel Datuk Lim Chee Wee said Najib’s defence claimed that it was the SRC Board of Directors’ (BOD) duty to conduct due diligence and safeguard the first RM2 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), but in reality, the SRC Board did not even exist at the time the loan was disbursed in the second half of 2011.

“Datuk Seri Najib’s response was that, as Prime Minister and Finance Minister, he could not be expected to undertake due diligence, as this was the responsibility of operational safeguards such as the SRC BOD or the KWAP Investment Panel.

“This response is untenable. In the context of the procurement of the first KWAP loan, the plaintiff (SRC) has already established that there was no SRC Board in place and the KWAP Investment Panel felt compelled to follow Najib’s instructions for several reasons, including the fact that KWAP fell under his purview as Finance Minister,” he said.

He said this during submission at the hearing of SRC’s USD1.18 billion civil suit against Najib and SRC former chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who remains at large.

Lim said Najib, in his capacity as Prime Minister and Finance Minister, had exerted his influence over KWAP to expedite a massive loan to SRC, despite there being no imminent investment.

"He knew that there were no imminent investments, but nevertheless worked in concert with SRC former chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil to procure the loan on an expedited basis in furtherance of the eventual misappropriation of SRC funds, in which both were personal recipients," he said.

He added that the contention that Najib, as Prime Minister, was too busy to concern himself with due diligence and details was untenable.

"SRC was never a run-of-the-mill project. It involved RM4 billion of civil servants’ pension funds being channelled into a ‘fledgling company with no proven track record’ in pursuit of energy security for the rakyat and in line with Datuk Seri Najib's own aspirations under the 10th Malaysia Plan.

"Indeed, SRC was even conceptualised as an entity akin to Petronas. Ultimately, there was no energy security achieved," he said.

The hearing before Judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin continues tomorrow.

Under new management, SRC filed the legal action in May 2021, alleging that Najib had committed breach of trust, abuse of power, misappropriated the company's funds and personally benefited from it.

It named Najib, along with its former directors Datuk Suboh Md Yassin, Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin, Nik Faisal, Datuk Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar, Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Tan Sri Ismee Ismail as defendants in May 2021.

However, later, it removed six names from the suit and retained Najib and Nik Faisal as the first and second defendants.

Additionally, Najib has brought the said former SRC International directors as third-party respondents in the suit.

The company is seeking damages, interests, costs and a court declaration that Najib is responsible for the company’s losses due to his breach of duties and trust, and is demanding that Najib pay back the US$1.18bil in losses that it has suffered.

It is also seeking US$120 million and US$2 million from Najib and Nik Faisal respectively, on account of fraudulent breach of fiduciary duties and breach of trust.

-- BERNAMA