NAJIB Razak signed a draft memo transferring ownership of SRC International from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc) on the bonnet of car at the Subang military airbase on 2012, the high court heard today.

Former Treasury deputy secretary-general Mat Noor Nawi said he was tasked by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nor Mohamed Yakcop with the transfer of ownership. SRC International was then a subsidiary of 1MDB.

Mat Noor, who supervised 100 companies under MoF Inc, said he was informed by 1MDB liaison officer Zahid Taib to come to the Subang Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) base the next day at 8am on February 3, 2012. 

“The car that brought the prime minister stopped by the waiting area of the airport. I went to the car and handed the draft of the memo to him beside the car,” Mat Noor said.

“The prime minister checked the contents of the memo while standing beside the car. After going through four pages, he signed the draft memo and made a notation on the first page, while placing the draft on the bonnet of the car.”

Mat Noor considered the draft memo a “top-down” decision-making process as it was a request by SRC International addressed to the prime minister. 

He added that the change of ownership did not involve cash transfers.

Asked on whether due diligence was done, Mat Noor there was none until he left in 2015.

After Najib’s endorsement, a copy of the memo was then forwarded to second finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah for his approval. SRC International was then officially transferred on February 14, 2012.

After the transfer, the then SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil briefed Mat Noor at the Finance Ministry in Putrajaya, the court heard. 

During cross-examination, Mat Noor, in a moment of levity, agreed with defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh that it did not matter exactly where the draft memo was signed, after it was suggested that the former prime minister could not have signed all documents in his office. 

Meanwhile, Mat Noor told the court that he was appointed by Najib as an SRC International adviser but has lost the appointment letter. It is unclear whether he remains an adviser. Mat Noor, the prosecution’s 44th witness, was then excused. 

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 Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas leads the prosecution, while justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali presides. 

The trial continues. – July 9, 2019.