IF FORMER SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil was guilty of forging signatures to carry out millions in bank transactions, it was only because he was “emboldened” by a “mountain behind him”, the court heard today.

Former SRC International director Suboh Md Yassin has been peppered with suggestions by the defence over the past two days that it was Nik Faisal who had forged signatures on bank letters of instruction.

Suboh said during cross-examination today that Nik Faisal could only have done so because there was a higher authority backing him.

“You know he was emboldened because of his position. He was the CEO and he was a very powerful person because he had somebody behind him.

“It was like the Chinese proverb that says ‘there is a mountain behind him’… so dia beranilah. He could just brush us (the board of directors) aside.”

Suboh did not disclose the identity of “the mountain”.

Defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh earlier cross-examined Suboh on former prime minister Najib Razak’s role in SRC International.

Suboh reiterated that although Najib was adviser emeritus to the government entity, he never attended a board of directors meeting.

Najib also never gave orders to any of the directors in his capacity as adviser emeritus.

However, 66-year-old Suboh said the structure of the company changed after Article 117 of the company’s memorandum and articles of association were amended in 2012.

Former SRC International chairman Ismee Ismail testified last month that at an extra-ordinary meeting on April 23, 2012, Article 117 was amended, stating that SRC International must take into consideration the adviser emeritus’s advice on material and strategic matters.

Meanwhile, Suboh told the court he gave statements to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that contradicted one another.

During his first questioning in Abu Dhabi on November 27, 2015, he said his signatures on about a dozen Real Time Electronics Transfer of Funds and Securities (Rentas) letters of instruction to AmIslamic Bank were genuine.

When questioned in the Pullman Hotel, Putrajaya, by the MACC on May 28 and 30 last year, Suboh said they were not genuine.

Again, Suboh reversed his statement and said the signatures were genuine when questioned at the MACC headquarters, Putrajaya, on August 13 and 15 last year.

Lead defence counsel Shafee Abdullah pointed out that the final reversal occurred after Najib was charged with criminal offences related to SRC International.

Yesterday, Suboh told the court that it was possible that his signature was forged on Rentas documents and he added that it was possible that Nik Faisal was behind it.

Suboh said he made contradictory statements because he could not remember whether it was the hard copies or scanned documents of Rentas instruction forms carrying his signatures that were shown to him by the MACC.

Suboh reiterated he was never shown the Rentas transfer forms while he worked as a director of SRC International, but knew that funds were being disbursed from SRC International to Gandingan Mentari and Putra Perdana for corporate social responsibility work, to help flood victims on the east coast.

However, he said his signatures were forged after the defence demonstrated the similarity of the signatures on a dozen scanned documents. He added it was also possible his signature on the hard copies were forged.

Earlier today, Najib’s defence sought to prove that Suboh’s signature was forged on many, if not all, of the 17 documents put before the court today.

The documents were instruction letters sent to AmBank in 2014 and 2015 to disburse funds to SRC International subsidiary Gandingan Mentari, as well as to corporate social responsibility partner Ihsan Perdana.

As he did yesterday, Shafee used a projector to show the documents, calling attention to Suboh’s signature on copies of the instruction letters, which he said did not match the signature on the original documents, which had be sent to the bank two days after the transactions were approved.

He suggested that the signatures on 17 scanned documents were identical to one another and must therefore be “cut and pasted” copies of Suboh’s signature.

Shafee also suggested the signatures on the hard copies that were “free-hand forgery” did not match Suboh’s real signature.

Najib’s charges are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, for which he is accused of receiving RM42 million through his personal 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.

Najib, 66, is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Shafee, while Attorney-General Tommy Thomas leads the prosecution. Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is the presiding judge.

The case continues. – June 2, 2019.