NAJIB Razak stopped former second finance minister Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah from inquiring about SRC International’s funds in Switzerland to avoid any diplomatic sensitivities, the Court of Appeal heard today.

Defence lawyer Farhan Read said that was the only reason and it was not because of any personal interest.

The trial judge found that Najib’s action was not in the interest or advantage of the government because he denied Husni’s attempt to verify the status of the SRC funds in Switzerland’s BSI Bank, which were allegedly frozen by the Swiss authorities, Farhan said.

He said it was inaccurate for the prosecution to submit that Najib’s failure to demonstrate a proper plan to have the funds repatriated showed that he had no wish to do so.
“Najib had testified that the issue of sending a delegation to Switzerland was not as simple as what Husni had suggested,” he said.

“He explained there were other considerations at play in government-to-government communications.
“And to his knowledge, these matters were being handled by the Minister of Finance Incorporated.”

The lawyer said Husni had conceded during the SRC trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court that there was a parallel plan being managed by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to repatriate the funds.

Farhan said in 2017, a memo was issued by Dr Mohd Isa Hussain from the Ministry of Finance, seeking approval for a further loan to be given to SRC.

He said the memo approved by Najib outlined that SRC was to be provided a final chance to repatriate the funds from Switzerland or repatriate funds from other investments.

He concluded that it could hardly be said that nothing was done by MoF and the Minister of Finance Incorporated because a plan was already in place.

High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali found Najib guilty of seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power last July.

Najib is currently out on a RM2 million bail.

The defence continues its submission-in-reply tomorrow before a three-man bench, led by judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil. The two other judges are Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Has Zanah Mehat. – April 27, 2021.