NAJIB Razak’s SRC International trial began today afternoon as defence lawyers were at the Federal Court, appealing against a lower court decision to start the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial on August 19.

The Court of Appeal last Monday dismissed separate applications from the prosecution and defence to postpone the 1MDB trial, in which the former prime minister faces 25 criminal charges.

Both sides had applied to overturn high court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah’s decision on July 18, when he rejected the prosecution’s request to postpone the 1MDB trial, and fixed trial dates from August 19 to November 14.

The prosecution and defence have said they want the SRC International trial to conclude first.

The prosecution is expected to conclude its case by Friday, the final trial date set this year for the SRC International case, which is heard by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

After the Federal Court hearing in Putrajaya, the prosecution’s 57th and final witness, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Rosli Husain will be recalled at the SRC International hearing.

Rosli told the court on Friday that the anti-graft agency was only able to obtain copies of minutes of SRC International’s 2013 board meetings that were missing from secretarial books seized on July 6, 2015. 

Rosli said he was not able to obtain the original minutes of the meetings when investigations began in mid-2015 as one of its key figures, former director Terence Geh, had fled the country.

Geh, 48, was also 1MDB’s finance director and an associate of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho.

Rosli added that he has questioned former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu, and that the central bank digital forensics department had obtained BlackBerry Messenger chat logs from her phone that was seized on July 5, 2015.

He said Yu had assisted investigators in categorising conversations with persons of interests into two main groups: one comprising Yu and fellow relationship managers Krystle Yap and Daniel Lee; and another that included Low, former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and former 1MDB president and CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.

Rosli also said five witnesses have passed away since SRC International investigations began.

The deceased are: Economic Planning Unit director general Noriah Ahmad, Umno Penang liaison committee chairman Zainal Abidin Osman, Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) investment chief Ahmad Norhisham and Izzat Izaidi, who was believed to be a driver for Najib’s political secretary Muhammad Khairun Aseh.

Also deceased was Najib’s principal private secretary Azlin Alias, who died in a helicopter crash in April 2015, that also killed minister Jamaluddin Jarjis.

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 in his personal accounts in 2014 and 2015.

The 66-year-old was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power.

The Malaysian Insight brings you today’s proceedings live:

5.03pm: Court is adjourned till 9am tomorrow.

4.38pm: Rosli is verifying and marking documents that were seized at AmBank.

4.22pm: Rosli says AmBank could not produce original documents to MACC because Bank Negara had already seized them. Among them were SRC International’s bank statements, Najib’s bank statements, remittances, confirmation advice, and cheques.

4.09pm: Court resumes with Rosli verifying Red Notices issued to other persons involved in 1MDB.

3.46pm: Court takes recess.

3.16pm: Rosli tells the court that the MACC team reached out to St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean because Low has citizenship there. He says there was no response.

3.04pm: Low last left Malaysia on May 29, 2015, from Subang airport, while Nik Faisal’s last exit from the country was via Kuala Lumpur International Airport on May 7 last year, says Rosli.

He adds that Red Notices were also issued against Redzuan Adam Shah and Toh Lian Seng.

2.52pm: Rosli says the Red Notices are in effect to this day, but both men have yet to be arrested.

Nik Faisal and Low’s Malaysian passports were cancelled last year, he says.

2.41pm: Rosli says he worked with Bukit Aman to release Interpol-issued Red Notices against Low and Nik Faisal. The Red Notices were sent to countries where they were likely hiding, namely Hong Kong, China, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as the Chinese special administrative region of Macau.

2.29pm: Rosli says no one responded to MACC’s press release seeking information on Low’s whereabouts.

He says on October 17, 2015 in Jakarta, and at the end of that month, they managed to get to Nik Faisal and record his statement. He says they also recorded Low’s statement in Abu Dhabi in November 2015. Both promised to return to Malaysia and testify.

Asked why he did not set bail for the duo, Rosli says it was because Nik Faisal and Low gave an assurance that they would return.

He testifies that arrest warrants for the two were issued on May 22 last year.

2.26pm: Rosli says on May 28, 2015, his team went to Low’s residence in Tanjung Bungah, Penang. When they arrived, there was no one at the house.

He says they also went to Low’s father’s office in Penang, but could not get anyone. When they checked Low’s passport information, they found out that the businessman had left Malaysia a few days earlier.

Nik Faisal left the country on May 7 last year, while Low left on May 29, 2015, a day after MACC officers went to his residence, says Rosli, adding that both never returned to Malaysia.

2.20pm: Rosli says MACC issued a press release seeking more information on 1MDB-linked financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, on June 18 last year.

He says MACC officers had gone to ex-SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil’s home in Shah Alam on two occasions, but Nik Faisal could not be found. They also went to Nik Faisal’s office in Shah Alam, where they found just one worker, who told them Nik Faisal had left the country and would not be returning.

They went to Nik Faisal’s home in Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, too, but no one was there, says Rosli.

2.19pm: Trial commences with MACC investigating officer Rosli Husain taking the stand. He is identifying other MACC officers who assisted in the SRC International probe. – August 13, 2019.