FORMER prime minister Najib Razak did not deny that the signatures on bank documents used to carry out transactions were his, an anti-graft investigating officer told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officer Rosli Hussain said the documents, including letters of instructions to approve millions in transactions for private AmBank accounts, bore Najib’s signature.

“All these documents were shown to Najib (during MACC investigations) and he confirmed that the signatures were his. There was no denial on his part,” Rosli told the court today.

He added that Najib was questioned thrice – on December 5, 2015; May 22, 2018; and, May 24, 2018.  

Defence lawyers had previously suggested that Najib’s signatures were forged by former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil as part of a scheme to defraud the government-linked entity.

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah stood up and addressed the court after Rosli’s statement to say that the witness’ testimony was hearsay and could not be accepted by the defence.

“We want to put it on record that what the witness has said is hearsay,” Shafee told the court, presided by Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Ad hoc prosecutor V. Sithambaram responded by saying the prosecution will make a submission on the matter later.

Najib faces seven criminal charges for receiving RM42 million from government entity SRC International between December 2014 and February 2015.

At the end of today’s hearing, the prosecution said it was nearly done with the examination-in-chief of Rosli. Deputy public prosecutor Suhaimi Ibrahim told the court that the prosecution would require only an hour of examination when the trial resumes tomorrow.  

Rosli, who has been called to the witness stand thrice since August 9, will then be cross-examined by the defence.

Earlier this afternoon, the witness verified documents related to Najib’s AmBank accounts, which were seized during a raid on AmBank’s Raja Chulan branch on July 5, 2015.

The documents, which were verified and marked as exhibits, included letters of instructions by Najib or the mandate holder of his personal bank accounts, Nik Faisal.

The documents also included thermal receipts, emails and other transactional records related to Najib’s accounts as well as accounts belonging to SRC International subsidiary Gandingan Mentari and its corporate social responsibility partner, Ihsan Perdana.

The additional documents were received from AmBank from on May 1, May 31 and June 13 of last year. Other letters were instructions to close Najib’s three remaining current accounts in March 2015, the same month his two credit cards were cancelled.

Not all documents were originals. The MACC could only obtain a copy of a 2014 letter from Nik Faisal to AmBank instructing the bank to authorise one Kee Kok Thiam to deposit cash into Najib’s accounts.

Kee, an associate of Low Taek Jho, remains missing. Putrajaya seized RM1.52 million from Kee’s accounts in May this year as part of its RM680 million forfeiture suit to recover 1Malaysia Development Bhd-linked funds.

Established in January 2011, SRC International was a 1MDB subsidiary before its ownership was transferred to the Minister of Finance Inc in February 2012.

The hearing continues tomorrow. – August 19, 2019.