Lead prosecutor shreds Najib’s bid for acquittal
Published on: Thursday, April 15, 2021
By: Bernama
Najib arriving in court yesterday.
PUTRAJAYA: The three judges hearing Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s appeal to overturn his 12 year jail sentence and RM210 million fine for abuse of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds were enlightened on the overwhelming evidence which had led to the former prime minister’s conviction.Lead prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram explained to the judges how Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali had weighed all the evidence and wrote a phenomenal judgement on Najib’s guilt.
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He said the court should not interfere with the findings of fact made by Justice Nazlan, who convicted Najib of all seven counts of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds.
The senior counsel, who was roped in specifically to handle the trial, explained how all the evidence pointed to Najib using SRC as his personal piggy bank or automated teller machine (ATM) by dictating everything.
This, Sithambaram said, was done through blatant abuse of his position as Prime Minister, Finance Minister and also by positioning himself as the shadow director of SRC.
The Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) said it was Najib who ensured SRC was given a RM4 billion loan which was guaranteed by the government to be used as an investment.
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In the end, he said, SRC had nothing to show for it until today.
“He was sitting there to get the loan quickly approved and quickly released. The money is then quickly taken out of the country.
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“After that nothing happened. There is not even a pillar to show for it...not even one pillar to be marked as a tombstone,” he said.
Sithambaram took the judges through the chain of events by touching on the charges faced by Najib, namely that of abusing his position for gratification, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
Starting with the first charge, the Penang-based veteran criminal lawyer said evidence showed that Najib had overwhelming, direct control of SRC.
He said Najib used his numerous positions to exert authority over individuals and institutions connected to a RM4 billion loan which was given to SRC without going through the proper process.
“The day the money is released it disappears...nothing is done for six to seven years.
“The loan is never repaid and default notices were issued to SRC. This resulted in the Ministry of Finance (MOF) providing three more short term loans of RM650 million to SRC to enable it to repay the arrears...all these were approved with the consent of the appellant.
“He did it to prevent an event of default, which would have caused the government of Malaysia, as the guarantor of the loans, to repay the entire RM4 billion loan and interest.”
Sithambaram said the prosecution had proven its case by showing how Najib used his office and position for gratification through clear evidence as required under Section 23 of the MACC Act.
This, he said, was done through evidence which showed Najib had taken part in Cabinet meetings that approved the Government Guarantees (GGs) for the loan given to SRC.
He said Najib had failed to declare his personal interest in SRC when the matter was presented to Cabinet.
Sithambaram explained how SRC was established with Najib’s support and how the company had gone to him directly when it failed to secure a loan from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
“SRC subsequently did not go through the proper process of applying a RM4 billion loan directly from the Pensioners Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP).
“Instead, it wrote directly to the appellant. It is clear that without the intervention of the appellant, KWAP would never have granted any loan to a two dollar company which did not have any track record.
“Commercial banks would have rejected the SRC loan application outright as it had no means to repay,” he said.
Sithambaram said witnesses had testified how MOF officials were pressured to quickly prepare a Cabinet paper to secure the GGs for the loan for SRC, which was described as Syarikat PM (prime minister’s company).
He said all this was done even though there was no specific mention of how the money would be invested by SRC, except that the funds would be utilised on terms and conditions decided by the Finance Minister - which was none other than Najib himself.
Sithambaram also touched on the peculiar manner the RM4 billion loan application, approval and GGs was done.
He said Najib had sought a GG for the second loan of RM2 billion one month before the company even submitted an application for it.
“It was as if he had a crystal ball which enabled him to see that another application for loan would be coming,” he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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