FORMER SRC International Sdn Bhd board chairman Ismee Ismail is unable to confirm the authenticity of the minutes of a purported meeting between Najib Razak and CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, the high court heard today.

The prosecution wants to submit the minutes as evidence.

Yesterday, Ismee told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that he and other board members were told by Nik Faisal on September 13, 2011 that the latter had met the former prime minister a few days earlier, on September 7.

It was at the September 7 meeting that Najib purportedly approved a deposit of RM1.8 billion in SRC International funds into foreign banks.

When cross-examined by defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh today, Ismee agreed that he is unable to confirm that the minutes of the September 7 meeting are the same as what Nik Faisal referred to during the board meeting days later.

He said he found the minutes in a briefcase at his home last year, when he was asked by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission if he had more documents relating to SRC International.

Ismee was previously questioned by MACC in 2015.

During cross-examination, Ismee said he did not personally witness Najib signing off on the minutes, despite testifying yesterday that he was informed by Nik Faisal that “on the face”, the minutes were signed off.

Despite being the then SRC International board chairman, said Ismee, he never met Najib, and the former prime minister never attended board meetings.

Harvinderjit asked Ismee what he knew about regulations on the recording of meeting minutes under the Companies Act, which requires the minutes to be signed off.

The witness said he is not familiar with the regulations.

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.

Ismee yesterday said Nik Faisal informed the SRC International board about the meeting on September 13, 2011.

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.

The defence yesterday 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”.

Defence lawyers also pointed out that the existence of the minutes was not noted by the company secretary, and that the board never tabled the minutes for deliberation.

The prosecution responded that the minutes are admissible under the Anti-Money Laundering Act or MACC Act.

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

Nik Faisal, described as a vital “link” between SRC International and Najib, is being sought by police. He remains at large, and is reported to be in Indonesia.

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 11, 2019.