NAJIB Razak’s trial this past week saw the prosecution’s 42nd witness, former SRC International Sdn Bhd director Suboh Md Yassin, suggesting that ex-CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil could have forged signatures to carry out transactions involving millions because he was “emboldened” by a “mountain behind him”.

Suboh, who testified over four days, was pressed by the defence on whether it was Nik Faisal who had forged signatures on letters of instruction to AmIslamic Bank, which held SRC International’s company account.

“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’s like the Chinese proverb ‘there is a mountain’ behind him… So, ‘dia berani lah’ (he was emboldened). He could just brush us (board of directors) aside.”

He did not disclose the identity of the “mountain” in question.

The defence suggested it was Nik Faisal who was guilty of forging signatures to allow millions of ringgit in bank transactions, to which Suboh said it was possible.

Suboh said Nik Faisal still had influence over the SRC International board even when he was no longer CEO, disagreeing with the defence’s suggestion that Nik Faisal’s authority ended after his service was terminated on August 11, 2014.

The 66-year-old told the court that in his statements to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, he said his signatures on about a dozen Real-Time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities, or Rentas, letters of instruction to AmIslamic Bank could have been forged.

The instructions were for AmIslamic Bank to transfer millions between SRC International, its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari and corporate social responsibility partner Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd.

When shown the original hard copies of the documents by the defence, Suboh said the signatures on them were different from his own, and agreed that the signature samples he provided to the court were “not similar” to those on the documents.

He said his signature had been forged after the defence demonstrated the similarity of the signatures on a dozen scanned documents. He added that it was possible his signature had been forged on the hard copies by Nik Faisal.

Nik Faisal remains missing, and according to reports, is believed to be in Indonesia.

Najib’s charges in this trial relate to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, from which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in 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.

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

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas leads the prosecution, while justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali presides over the trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The proceedings continue tomorrow. – July 7, 2019.