TODAY’s hearing of Najib Razak’s SRC International trial was twice delayed as prosecutors sought to retrieve and then go over the witness statements of Suboh Md Yassin recorded by the the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. 

Ad hoc prosector V. Sithambaram called for a stand down of the proceedings mid-morning, saying the documents needed to be retrieved from a safe “across the road”.

The hearing is taking place in the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex in Jalan Duta. 

Defence lawyers had obtained permission from the court to question the former SRC International director the statements he gave to the MACC in 2015 and 2018. 
 
Upon the delivery of the documents at noon after an hour’s wait, the prosecution asked the court for more time to prepare the documents.

Lead defence counsel Mohd Shafee Abdullah applied to have the documents admitted into court under Section 159(1) of the Evidence Act, which allows a witness to refresh his memory by referring his writings.

Najib’s defence seeks to prove that Suboh’s signature was forged on many, if not all, of the 17 documents he showed the court today.

The documents were instruction letters sent to AmBank in 2014 and 2015 to disburse funds from SRC International to its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari as well as to corporate social responsibility partner Ihsan Perdana.

Like he did yesterday, Shafee used a projector to show the documents, calling attention to Suboh’s signature on copies of the instruction letters, which he said did not match the signature on the original documents that must be sent to the bank two days after the transactions were approved.

He suggested that the signatures on 17 scanned documents were identical to one another and must therefore be “cut and pasted”copies of Suboh’s signature.

He also said the signatures on the hard copies that were “free-hand forgery” did not match Suboh’s real signature. 

During cross-examination, Shafee referred to Suboh’s “ikut sedap” comment yesterday to explain that his signature was not always identical and that it varied.

Shafee: Ikut sedap or not, your signature remains the same. The characteristics remain the same. They are are more or less your signature, but not exactly identical. Do you agree?

Suboh: Yes

Shafee then referred to an original letter, which he called the “hard copy”, that he suggested bore a ”free-hand forgery” of Suboh’s signature.

Shafee: It cannot be your signature by any measure. The signature, I call them “fat boys”, it’s completely different. Do you agree? 

Suboh: Yes.

Shafee: I’m putting it to you that the hard copy is not your signature. This is your chance to tell what is in fact the truth.

Suboh: Number one, I cannot remember signing the document.

Shafee next referred to a letter to  AmIslamic Bank, dated April 9, 2015, with instructions for RM3 million from SRC International’s account to be disbursed to Gandingan Mentari. 

Shafee: You don’t remember signing this document. Is that your testimony?

Suboh: Yeah.

Shafee: It should be identical. The hard copy and the scanned document. Why does it look different?

Suboh: I don’t know. 

Shafee: Now, you agree with me, somebody signed the hard copy. That’s not your signature. Alright?

Suboh nodded.

Shafee: Somebody scanned it, cut it and pasted it, and sent it to the bank. And the person who is doing this is not clever because he did it 17 times. Seventeen times you have identical signatures. Now you see the point?

Suboh: Yes.

Shafee: This could not be your signature. Somebody lifted your signature, cut and pasted your signature and sent it to the bank. You, therefore did not sign, you did not sign the original (hard copy). The scanned copy, you did not sign. You agree? 

Suboh: Yes

Shafee: Who put you up to admitting that these signatures were yours when the hard copies did not bear resemblance to your signatures?

Suboh: I was never put under such (a situation).

Shafee: Did you not say to the MACC officer (who questioned you) that these are not my signatures.

Suboh: I cannot remember. 

Shafee: Oh come on, this is not an event you can forget, 13 Rentas forms and you said you did not recognise them as your signatures. This is when your MACC statement was taken.

The defence lawyer then told the witness to refer to the MACC statement to refresh his memory. 

Suboh told the court yesterday he was questioned by the MACC five times – once in 2015 and four times after the May 9 general election last year. 

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.

He faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power.

Najib, 66, is represented by a dozen lawyers led by Shafee, while Attorney-General Tommy Thomas leads the prosecution. Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is the sitting judge. – July 2, 2019.