FORMER SRC International Sdn Bhd chairman Ismee Ismail needed Najib Razak’s approval on matters such as transactions, despite previous suggestions that the ex-prime minister had a limited role, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Ismee said this as he clashed with defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh on the interpretation of the minutes of a meeting between SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and Najib on September 7, 2011.

The meeting discussed the deposit of RM1.8 billion in SRC International funds into banks in Switzerland and Hong Kong after the entity received its first loan disbursement in mid-2011.

Harvinderjit said the minutes suggested that SRC International’s board had to furnish regular reports to Najib over its dealings, but decisions did not require his approval.

Ismee disagreed, saying as chairman of the board, he still had to report to Najib and get his approval.

The meeting between Nik Faisal and Najib occurred about a week after Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) disbursed its first loan of RM2 billion to SRC International.

At that meeting, Najib approved a deposit of RM1.5 billion into Swiss bank BSI Ltd and another RM300 million into Julius Baer Group in Hong Kong. The money was from KWAP’s first loan to SRC International, which was made out on August 29, 2011.

Ismee earlier testified that Nik Faisal had informed the SRC International board about the meeting on September 13, 2011.

The defence on Monday objected to the prosecution tendering a copy of the minutes of the September 7 meeting, saying Najib refuted its authenticity, calling it a “fake document”.

Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ruled that the minutes should be marked ID, for identification purposes, without being filed as evidence as yet.

Ismee today said the board was not told which account the RM2 billion loan was deposited into.

He said the board was not aware that there were two accounts opened in AmBank on behalf of SRC International.

He testified that it had no control over the account ending in “736”, and that he did not know of money coming in and going out of the said account.

Ismee said Nik Faisal, as a board director, should have informed it about the second account.

To Harvinderjit’s question if he knew that the RM2 billion that came into the account had gone out in one day, Ismee said he was unaware as the board had no control over the account.

Najib’s charges in this trial relate to RM4 billion loans to SRC International made out in 2011 and 2012, for which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in his accounts in 2014 and 2015.

He faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power.

The 66-year-old is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas leads the prosecution. – June 12, 2019.