DECISIONS made by SRC International’s board of directors had to be reported to Najib Razak for further input, the court heard today.

Ismee Ismail, who was chairman of SRC International’s board of directors from 2011 to 2014, told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that Najib was regularly briefed by CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who served as the “link” between the entity and the former prime minister.

Ismee, 54, who was also a director at 1Malaysia Development Bhd, referred to the minutes of a meeting on September 7, 2011, in which Nik Faisal met with Najib, who was also SRC International’s adviser emeritus.

The board comprised Ismee, Nik Faisal, Suboh Yassin, Che Abdullah@Rashidi Che Omar and Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi. Nik Faisal remains missing and is being sought by the police.

Ismee, referring to the minutes in court today, said SRC International was to regularly issue reports to the prime minister.

Ismee said SRC International’s board of directors did not object to this.

He added that the minutes were later seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh objected to the inclusion of the evidence, saying that his client (Najib) had refuted its authenticity, calling it a “fake document”.

He added the defence only received a copy of the document on May 17 this year.

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

Harvinderjit said the defence intended to challenge the authenticity of the minutes during cross-examination.

Harvinderjit further argued that had the minutes been genuine, it would have been tabled at a board meeting to be deliberated on or a copy would have been made available to the company secretary. 

Ismee later testified that he resigned due to major discrepancies in SRC International’s audited accounts in 2013.

He said his decision to quit was prompted by the discovery that the company accounts had not been audited and SRC International had not filed its annual financial statement with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, which he learnt from media reports. 

Ismee said he was informed later that Nik Faisal was replaced as SRC International CEO. 

Earlier today, former Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) CEO Azian Mohd Nor testified that while there was no overt directive from Najib, his position meant that he still held influence over KWAP’s lending decisions. 

While re-examined by the prosecution, Azian said that Najib’s position as prime minister, finance minister and head of 1MDB’s advisory board could not be ignored when he endorsed a loan for SRC International. 

“There’s no legal compulsion, but I cannot say the same that there was no influence. The letter came from the finance minister, the prime minister, the minister in charge of KWAP,” she said.  

“He is my ultimate boss. I cannot deny there is a certain amount of influence.”

Najib, 66, is charged with benefiting from a RM4 billion loan made out to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, from which he allegedly received RM42 million 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. If convicted, he could be jailed up to 20 years.

Najib is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah. Attorney-General Tommy Thomas leads the prosecution.

The trial continues tomorrow. – June 10, 2019.