FORMER SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil may have conspired with former director Suboh Md Yassin to fool the board in a deal with a construction firm, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

During cross-examination, former board chairman Ismee Ismail agreed with defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh the two men had not been “honest” with the board in 2014 when they neglected to inform the board that RM140 million was invested in an alleged South American mining venture.

SRC International subsidiary Gandingan Mentari was involved in the deal, in which it was to invest RM140 million in a 70-30 venture with Putra Perdana Construction.

Ismee said he was also not told that SRC International had earlier made over RM170 million to Putra Perdana Construction in three transactions in July and August 2014.

He said he was not aware of the existence of the money as Nik Faisal and Mohd Suboh didn’t inform the board of these transactions. He agreed with the defence that Suboh could have acted as an accomplice with Nik Faisal.  

Last month, a senior Maybank officer told the court that RM170 million flowed from SRC International to Putra Perdana Construction in mid-2014.

He said RM140 million was subsequently transferred to SRC International from Putra Perdana Construction, which served as a hub for other transactions, including an unnamed private AmBank account.

Putra Perdana Construction is a subsidiary of Putrajaya Perdana Sdn Bhd, a construction and property development company formerly controlled by financier Low Taek Jho.

Putrajaya Perdana was reportedly sold in 2008 to UBG Bhd, a company linked to the family of Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud, who was then the chief minister.

In 2010, UBG was acquired by Petrosaudi International Ltd (Seychelles) with loan assistance from 1Malaysia Development Bhd. UBG was sold to Cendana Destini Sdn Bhd in 2012.

During cross-examination this morning, Harvinderjit contended that Nik Faisal manipulated both the government and SRC International board members as he was the only link between the two. Ismee said that was a possibility.

Ismee said earlier that Nik Faisal had failed to brief the board at a meeting on February 14, 2012 on the government guarantee for the second loan of RM2 billion from KWAP. The loan was made out on March 28, 2012.

Ismee said on February 29, 2012, the SRC International company account had just RM17,000, not RM2 billion.

He added the board was also not informed of the need for a second credit facility after the first loan was disbursed on August 28, 2011.

He said the only resolution passed by the board concerning the second loan was that RM1.8 billion of the money was to be deposited in Swiss and Hong Kong banks.

The board did ask Nik Faisal in early 2014 to return the money stored in the two countries but the CEO never did so.

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

Nik Faisal is currently missing and sought by police for questioning.

Former prime minister Najib Razak is on trial on charges related to KWAP’s RM4 billion loan to SRC International 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. – June 17, 2019.