DEFENCE witness Dzulkifli Ahmad today told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that he was “shocked” to learn that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission intended to charge Najib Razak in December, 2015 for offences linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

Dzulkifli, who was then a deputy public prosecutor, told the SRC International trial today that he believed Najib should not be charged with crimes in relation to the flow of RM2.6 billion of 1MDB funds and RM42 million of SRC International funds into his personal accounts.

During examination-in-chief today, lead defence counsel Shafee Abdullah questioned Dzulkifli on his reaction when an investigation paper proposing that Najib be charged was delivered to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on December 31, 2015.

MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain previously testified that it was he who had submitted the investigation paper on the case. The MACC chief commissioner then was Abu Kassim Mohamed, who was later replaced by Dzulkifli on August 1, 2016.

“I was shocked by the revelation that MACC would charge Najib,” Dzulkifli testified this afternoon.

The defence witness said MACC had produced a statement on August 3, 2015 which confirmed that the RM2.6 billion was a donation.

“At the same time, I was on the team to Riyadh (in November, 2015) to confirm that the four letters were donations. We showed that the matter was a donation and I thought the issue was resolved.”

He said statements were taken from Najib, 1MDB intermediary figure Low Taek Jho in Riyadh, and a Prince Saud Abdulaziz Majid Al Saud, who allegedly signed four letters acknowledging donations from the Saudi royal family to Najib.

MACC had suggested that Najib be charged under Section 403 of the Penal Code for criminal misappropriation.

Dzulkifli said that despite the investigation papers being presented to then attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali, MACC had failed to show that Najib knew that the RM42 million was from SRC International.

Dzulkifli added that the anti-graft agency also failed to show that Najib gave orders for the money to be transferred into his personal bank accounts.

After reviewing the investigation paper, Apandi decided the case should be classified as “no further action”, the court heard.

Apandi then held a press conference on January 26, 2016 where he exonerated Najib. A month after that, after the case was closed, Dzulkifli received a request from Najib to hand over the former prime minister’s bank statement of accounts.

Dzulkifli said he was contacted by Najib’s then principal private secretary Shukry Mohd Salleh. When questioned by ad hoc prosecutor V. Sithambaram on whether he had asked the reason Najib wanted the statement, Dzulkifli said he had not.

Dzulkifli, a graduate of International Islamic University Malaysia, resigned as MACC chief on May 14, 2018, five days after Pakatan Harapan won the 14th general election. Dzulkifli’s MACC term was supposed to end in 2021. He is currently a lawyer in a private firm.

Najib, 66, faces seven criminal charges of receiving RM42 million of SRC International’s money between December 2014 and February 2015. He maintains that he was under the impression that the sum was from Saudi royals.

Prosecutors said the funds were linked to 1MDB, and that Najib conspired with others to defraud the entity, including its former subsidiary, SRC International.

The trial before judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali resumes tomorrow. – March 10, 2020.