FORMER SRC International Sdn Bhd chairman Ismee Ismail will today be called to the stand for the sixth time, to continue his testimony on Najib Razak’s role in the company’s dealings.

The defence is expected to call into question the credibility of Ismee, the trial’s 39th witness, alleged to be inconsistent in his testimony last week and his six-page witness statement recorded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission last year.

Defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh told Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali on Friday that the defence will address Ismee’s alleged inconsistencies after Najib’s lawyers go through Ismee’s oral evidence.

Options include filing for the witness’ impeachment, which will be decided by the judge.

The alleged inconsistencies stem from Ismee’s testimony that the SRC International board adopted a shareholder resolution, or a non-binding agreement, where it acted on the advice of former prime minister Najib in his capacity as a shareholder.

The defence has argued that this contradicted Ismee’s witness statement that the board followed Najib’s instructions as adviser emeritus.

Instead of the expected grilling, defence lawyers only cross-examined Ismee, who said he did not know that the company had hired relationship managers to manage its accounts at AmBank.

The 54-year-old Ismee told the court last week that the board he led was not informed when SRC International’s ownership was transferred to the Finance Ministry in February 2012 from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, soon after a government guarantee was provided for its second loan of RM2 billion from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP).

He then repeated an earlier statement that, in his capacity as SRC board chairman, he never met Najib.

Ismee chaired the board from 2011 to 2014, when Najib also held the post of finance minister and chaired the 1MDB advisory board. SRC International was formed in January 2011.

Ismee also previously clashed with the defence on the interpretation of the minutes of a meeting between SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and Najib on September 7, 2011.

At that meeting, RM1.8 billion in SRC International funds, deposited into banks in Switzerland and Hong Kong after the entity received its first loan disbursement in mid-2011, was discussed.

The meeting occurred about a week after KWAP disbursed its first loan of RM2 billion to SRC International, made out on August 29, 2011.

At that meeting, Najib allegedly approved a deposit of RM1.5 billion into Swiss bank BSI Ltd and another RM300 million into Julius Baer Group in Hong Kong.

The veracity of the minutes is under dispute, and Nazlan has agreed not to file it as evidence yet.

Nik Faisal is currently missing and being sought by police.

Najib’s charges in this trial relate to RM4 billion loans to SRC International made out in 2011 and 2012, for which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in his 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 Malaysian Insight brings you today’s proceedings live:

4.55pm: Harvinderjit finishes day 6 of cross-examining the witness and asks Judge Nazlan to continue tomorrow morning as lead counsel Shafee Abdullah has about one hour of cross-examination to finish up with Ismee.

Court is adjourned to 9am tomorrow morning.

4.44pm: Harvinderjit is going through Ismee’s witness statement which he had read out on the first day. In the last paragraph of the statement, Ismee said that Najib had the ability to hire and fire any director as he is the shareholder. Ismee says that the last paragraph was in his own words and not coaxed by MACC officers who took his statement.

4.30pm: Harvinderjit asks Ismee to specify that the word “government”, which was mentioned in the company minutes, does not only refer to Najib but other departments as well such as the Economic Planning Unit and MoF Inc.

Ismee says that in that context, it does not refer to Najib.

Ismee had previously said in his witness statement that to his understanding, the government meant Najib.

Harvinderjit says Najib was not the government – he was the prime minister but not the government.

3.40pm: Defence produces a letter from Nik Faisal to Putra Perdana Construction on August 8, 2014 to increase the investment value into a mining venture in South America from RM140 million to RM170 million. The venture involved SRC International subsidiary Gandingan Mentari. 

Ismee testifies that the letter was not shown to the board he led.

2.40pm: Court resumes with Ismee being cross examined.

1.08pm: Court breaks for lunch and will resume at 2.30pm.

11.50am: Ismee says in his resignation letter he didn’t state why he was stepping down but the SRC International board knew why.

11.47am: Ismee says that “account closed” in his statement doesn’t mean the accounts have been audited.

It just means that no more entries can be added.

11.13am: Court resumes.

10.49am: Court takes a 10-minute break.

10.35am: Harvinderjit says this is a serious action that Nik Faisal and Suboh had taken, which Ismee agrees.

10.34am: Ismee says he was not told of a transfer of RM170 million from SRC International to Putra Perdana Construction in three different transactions between July and August 2014.

He says he was not aware of the existence of this money as Nik Faisal and Mohd Suboh didn’t inform the board of these transactions.

10.20am: Ismee says that what management did at SRC International was a far cry from what was related to the board.

He is also unable to say how money from the company was transferred out.

10.17am: Harvinderjit implies that Nik Faisal manipulated both government and SRC International board members as he was the only link between the two.

Ismee agrees with this suggestion.

9.51am: Ismee says on February 29, 2012, SRC International’s company account had just RM17,000, not RM2 billion.

The only board resolution ever passed involving the second loan was for RM1.8 billion deposited into Swiss and Hong Kong banks, he says.

Ismee says there may be a “vast difference” between what Nik Faisal told the SRC International board and Ministry of Finance.

9.31am: Ismee testifies that Nik Faisal failed to brief the board at a meeting on February 14, 2012 on the government guarantee over the second loan of RM2 billion from KWAP.

The loan was made out on March 28, 2012.

Ismee agrees with Harvinderjit, saying the board was also not informed on the need for a second credit facility after the first loan was disbursed on August 28, 2011.

9.26am: Ismee is cross-examined by Harvinderjit Singh. – June 17, 2019.