NAJIB Razak could face charges linked to the RM42 million transferred into his personal bank accounts from a government-owned company, as early as next week, sources said.

They said that even before Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers interviewed the former prime minister for several hours on Tuesday and Thursday, the anti-graft agency believed that they had a strong case to present to court on three deposits made into his accounts from SRC International between December 2014 and February 2015.

SRC was set up as a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in January 2011 to focus on building up Malaysia’s energy security. But from the beginning, its operations were shrouded in secrecy.

‎A year later, SRC cut its ties with 1MDB in order to qualify for a RM4 billion loan from the government pension fund Kumpulan Amanah Wang Pencen (KWAP).

Between December 2014 and February 2015, SRC transferred RM50 million to its subsidiary, Gandingan Mentari, which then transferred the funds to Ihsan Perdana – a unit undertaking corporate social responsibility programmes for 1MDB.

It was from Ihsan Perdana that RM42 million flowed into the defeated prime minister’s personal accounts. 

Najib has maintained that he did not commit any criminal offence because he was unaware from where the money came and he did not instruct anyone to transfer the funds into his accounts.

It is understood that Najib’s defence will be anchored on showing that it was individuals at the Ministry of Finance, SRC and Ihsan Perdana who acted on their own and that there were no written instructions from him to effect the transfer of funds from SRC International into his bank accounts.

That defence could collapse if others involved in the transactions have a different recollection of why money was transferred from a government entity into the bank account of the then prime minister.

Meanwhile, the MACC has called in former 1MDB chief executive officer and SRC International board member Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi for questioning, another sign that Najib’s day in court is drawing closer.

Two years ago, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had blamed the Stanford University graduate for the mismanagement at 1MDB.

The bipartisan committee recommended that action be taken against him. 

Nothing happened. The inaction gave rise to speculation that Shahrol knew too much about the shenanigans at 1MDB and throwing him under the bus would have been too dangerous ‎for those who wanted the scandal to be contained.

Shahrol joined 1MDB in 2009. Before that, he was a consultant with Accenture.

He left 1MDB in 2013 and joined the Prime Minister’s Department Pemandu, better known as the Performance Management and Delivery Unit. That unit has now been disbanded.

Malaysia Decides understands that several other senior 1MDB officials have been called in by MACC. – May 27, 2018.