NAJIB Razak’s SRC International trial enters its 20th day today with the 38th witness, former Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) chief executive officer Azian Mohd Noh, returning to the stand.  

Azian told the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday that Azlin Alias, a special officer who headed Najib’s economic policy team, had personally handed her an application letter dated June 3, 2011, for a RM3.95 billion loan from KWAP.

She said she was asked by Azlin’s office to meet at the lobby of an unidentified hotel in KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, after working hours. Azlin died in 2015 in a helicopter crash that also killed former minister Jamaluddin Jarjis, a close associate of Najib’s.  

Azian’s description of the letter corroborated previous testimonies of a three-page loan application letter that bore a handwritten note from Najib that read: “Bersetuju dengan cadangan ini (Agree with this proposal)”. The note was dated June 5.  

She also corroborated previous testimonies of how KWAP was initially reluctant to approve the loan due to the large amount and SRC International’s lack of expertise in the natural resources industry.

Azian, who was KWAP CEO from 2007 until she retired in 2013, said she had also personally met Najib over the loan. She accompanied KWAP chairman Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah to the then prime minister’s office, but said she could not remember when the meeting took place.  

The meeting was to forward the concerns of KWAP’s investment panel over the loan amount and raise its recommendation that the amount be reduced to RM1 billion.

Azian then told the investment panel meeting on July 19, 2011, that Najib had told the KWAP chairman to hasten the loan approval process and that RM2 billion was sufficient.  

Azian, however, could not recall when the request for RM2 billion was made, only that she was told by the chairman to expedite its approval.

The RM2 billion loan was approved on August 26, 2011, and the payment vouchers were made out on August 29, 2011, in four tranches of RM500 million each to SRC International.

Azian said on March 13, 2012, KWAP received another letter from SRC International signed by its CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil requesting another RM2 billion loan.

Najib, 66, faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power. He faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment if convicted.

The former Umno president is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas is leading the prosecution, while Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is presiding over the trial.

The Malaysian Insight brings you today’s proceedings live:

3.46pm: Harvinderjit stops questioning for the day, Nazlan tells Azian that she has to come back on June 10 after Hari Raya and cautions her not to discuss the case with anyone during this period.

Court is adjourned until 9am on June 10.

3.14pm: Harvinderjit goes through the meeting minutes when the investment panel approved the second RM2 billion loan to SRC.

2.54pm: Azian says when she told Najib the investment panel would only approve RM1 billion of the RM3.95 billion requested, the former prime minister didn’t say anything. 

Harvinderjit: Did he say, “No you must give them RM3.95 billion?” 

Azian: No, he did not say that.

2,48pm: Harvinderjit asks her if the investment panel could have rushed through the loan. She says yes. Harvinderjit then asks her if they did that. Azian says no.

2.19pm: Harvinderjit: At any point in time did you or anyone else ask for the loan to go through without any due process because of the notation by Najib? 

Azian: No, definitely not.

2.17pm: She reads the comment that Najib wrote in SRC’s letter asking for the RM3.95 billion loan. Naib said he agrees with the request.

2.15pm: Azian says she and KWAP chairman did not include in the investment paper a recommendation that the investment panel approve the loan.

2.02pm: Harvinderjit asks Azian to confirm how investment panel meeting minutes are taken.

1.51pm: Court resumes with Azian back on the stand to be cross-examined Harvinderjet.

1.00pm: Court takes a 45-minute recess for prayers.

12.53pm: Harvinderjit puts to Azian that the investment panel has the power to defer, deny or approve a loan. It can also delay approval to interview loan applicants and it has the power to obtain more information on a company requesting a loan.

Azian agrees with Harvinderjit’s statement.

1245pm: Harvinderjit points out that the finance minister has to appoint two representatives from the ministry to the investment panel.

12.42pm: Harvinderjit asks if the investment panel is not bound by the recommendations of an investment paper.

Azian tells him to refer to the KWAP act on the roles and functions of the investment panel.

12.27pm: Harvinderjit asks what were the powers of KWAP’s fixed income department.

Azian says it has the power to get any information regarding the loan. This is done to satisfy any queries the investment panel of KWAP might have when the fixed income department prepares the investment paper.

12.24pm: She says it’s the fiduciary duty of all employees to act in the best interests of KWAP.

12.03pm: Azian says she requested her statement be recorded in English but said she couldn’t remember what the response was. But they continued to take her statement in Bahasa Malaysia.

12.02pm: She says her statement that she read yesterday was done with the DPP and  MACC officers. She said most of the words in the statement were hers.

11.59am: Azian says she was approached by MACC in 2015 to record her statement. She says she met MACC officers three times in 2015 and  that those were the only times she was questioned by them.

11.58am: Court resumes with Harvinderjit continuing his cross-examination. He jokes that he will try to make it as painless as possible for Azian.

11.25am: Court takes a 10 minute recess.

11.23am: Azian says it would have been ideal if KWAP had received guarantee from the government before the loan was disbursed.

11.12am: She says there was zero risk to KWAP because the loan was backed by the government.

11.09am: Azian reiterates that the letter requesting for the loan came from a reputable party, which is the Finance Ministry.

10.51am: Ishak asks the judge to advise the witness to be absolutely sure when answering. They tell her to answer clearly with a “yes”, “no” or “I don’t know”.

10.42am: Azian is now verifying the loan terms stipulated in the investment paper.

10.28am: The witness is now being questioned by defence lawyer Yusof Zainal Abiden.

10.21am: Judge Nazlan asks the witness why there is a gap in her statement, in which she initially says that the panel only decided to consider a RM1 billion loan amount, but jumps to the fact that RM2 billion was brought up for the investment panel’s consideration. 

N: Why is there a jump there? There seems to be a hole in your statement. 

A: I don’t recall the sequence of events. All I know was that the chairman brought RM2 billion to be tabled by the investment panel.

Ishak ends his questioning.

10.13am: Azian is shown a picture of SRC director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and is asked to identify him.

Ishak asks Azian if it was a normal practice to grant a loan first before getting any supporting documents, like a guarantee letter. 

I: Under your tenure as the CEO of KWAP, was it normal for you to disburse the loan amount first before getting the guarantee letter?

A: It has never happened except for in this scenario.

10.08am: Azian begins by going through agreements and stipulations made between SRC International and KWAP as to the use of the additional RM2 billion loan.

She says that if the money was used for purposes other than what was stipulated in their agreement, it would amount to a default. If KWAP were to register any misuse, it could terminate the agreement and request that the money, along with interest, be returned.

She says that during her tenure at KWAP, the RM4 billion loaned to SRC International was the largest loan sum ever approved by KWAP.

10.03am: Shafee ends his cross-examination of Shamsul. 

Former Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) CEO and the trial’s 38th witness, Azian Mohd Noh, takes the stand to continue her cross-examination by prosecution lawyer Ishak Mohd Yusoff on the RM4 billion loan KWAP approved for SRC International.

9.53am: Shamsul says that after being questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in 2015, he went to see Najib and told him that SRC International funds had entered into his private accounts.

Shamsul, who says he was close to Najib, tells the court that Najib appeared shocked at the news.

Shafee asks him whether Najib asked for a police report to be lodged on this. 

Shafee: Did he tell you to make a police report, to tell the MACC? 

Shamsul: No.

Shamsul then says his “conscience is clear” when asked if there was any dishonesty on Ihsan Perdana’s part.

9.49am: Shafee continues his cross-examination of the trial’s 37th witness, Ihsan Perdana managing director Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman.

9.07am: Najib Razak arrives at the Jalan Duta courts complex. – May 29, 2019.