THE “mountain” behind SRC International Sdn Bhd CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil who allegedly emboldened him to carry out illicit activities is a figment of board members’ imagination, said Najib Razak’s lawyer.

Lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said due to the qualified individuals chosen to help manage SRC International, it is “unthinkable” that the former prime minister could be involved in forging signatures and defrauding the board when it comes to audit accounts.

“That is the significance that we have established. Therefore, this story of Nik Faisal having a ‘mountain’ behind him is but a figment of their imagination.

“It is maybe an honest belief because it is… Malaysian culture, more so with Malays, to ‘guna nama’ (name-drop). To say, ‘My boss asked me to do this’, when in fact, the boss doesn’t even know.

“So, people get frightened. If you take a picture with the prime minister, and you say I am close with the prime minister, this is what I can do… These are all examples of ‘guna nama’.

“If he (Nik Faisal) could mislead the board, we are going to suggest that he misled the prime minister, too, by saying the board agreed (with his schemes to defraud SRC International),” he told reporters after today’s hearing.

Yesterday, former SRC International director Suboh Md Yassin testified that Nik Faisal was “emboldened” by “a ‘mountain’ behind him”.

“You know, he was emboldened because of his position. He was the CEO, and he was a very powerful person because he had somebody behind him.

“It’s like the Chinese proverb ‘there is a mountain’ behind him… So, ‘dia berani lah’ (he was emboldened). He could just brush us (board of directors) aside.”

He did not disclose the identity of the “mountain” in question.

The defence suggested it was Nik Faisal who was guilty of forging signatures to allow millions of ringgit in bank transactions, to which Suboh said it was possible.

Shafee also questioned the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s alleged failure to confront Suboh over signatures that appear to be identical on 11 scanned copies of letters of instruction to AmIslamic Bank, which held SRC International’s company accounts. 

Suboh was questioned by MACC once in 2015 and five more times after the May 9 polls last year. 

He agreed with the defence’s suggestions that the signatures on the scanned documents may not be his and the signatures on hard copies were free-hand forgeries. 

Shafee attacked the bank for failing to demand that hard copies be sent after several transactions were allegedly approved based solely on the scanned letters of instruction that were received.

”When the bank was instructed to transfer the money urgently by today, the bank will execute it even though there is only a scanned copy of the document due to the good relationship that the bank has with them. 

”But still, the bank requires a hard copy of the document to transfer money, but the bank was blind as they did not match the scanned copy with the hard copy,” Suboh said. 

When the trial resumes on July 8, said Shafee, Suboh will be questioned on why he fled the country in 2015, after news of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal broke. 

”Why did Nik Faisal want Suboh to escape and run away? I will provide the reason on Monday in court,” Shafee said. 

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 through 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. Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is the presiding judge. – July 3, 2019.