SOME RM170 million flowed from SRC International to Putra Perdana Construction in mid-2014, a senior Maybank officer told the Kuala Lumpiur High Court today.

Of that amount, RM140 million was transferred back to SRC International from Putra Perdana Construction, which served as a hub for other transactions, including an unnamed AmBank private account.

Noor Lina Mahmud, who is a treasury settlement section chief, broke down the transactions as listed below:

* RM35 million from SRC International to Putra Perdana Construction on July 8, 2014;

* RM105 million from SRC International to Putra Perdana Construction on July 14, 2014;

* RM30 million from SRC International to Putra Perdana Construction on August 8, 2014;

* RM140 million from Putra Perdana Construction to SRC International on Decemer 12, 2014;

* RM5 million from an AmBank private account to Putra Perdana Construction on December 29, 2014; and,

* RM27 million from Permai Binaraya to an AmBank private account on July 8, 2014

Noor Lina is the 32nd prosecution witness to testify against former prime Najib Razak in the SRC International trial.

Najib was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power over RM42 million allegedly deposited into his accounts in 2014 and 2015.

Also testifying at the trial today were two senior officers from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), who verified that they approved RM4 billion in payment vouchers for KWAP loans to SRC International in 2011 and 2012.  

Prosecutors charged that of the RM4 billion funnelled to the government-owned investment company, RM42 million eventually made its way into Najib’s accounts in 2014 and 2015.

Yesterday, Maybank branch assistant manager Halijah Abdul Wahab told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that 10 transactions occurred between July 8, 2014 and January 7, 2015, involving the three companies.

The largest transaction took place on December 12, 2014, when RM140 million was transferred from Putra Perdana Construction to SRC International.

Notably, Halijah testified that RM27 million was transferred from Permai Binaraya to the former prime minister’s AmBank account ending with “880” on July 8, 2014.

She said the same amount was transferred back to Permai Binaraya six months later, on December 29, 2014.

Meanwhile, the two senior officers responsible for approving RM4 billion payment vouchers testified that they were among the largest loans approved by the retirement fund.

Former KWAP Accounts and Management Services Department director R. Ambalagam approved the first RM2 billion payment vouchers in 2011.

Former KWAP Investment Settlement and Services Department vice-president Amirah Muhammad Nor approved two payment vouchers of RM1 billion each after the fund received a form of utilisation notice from SRC International in March 2012.

Both Amirah and Ambalagam, in their witness statements, said the loans were the biggest approved by KWAP throughout their working experience at the fund.

While under cross-examination by defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh, both said the opinion was their own, and not suggested to them by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers, who had questioned them. – May 9, 2019.