HOURS after the Court of Appeal delivered its decision to uphold his conviction and sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, former prime minister Najib Razak said he did not instruct for the RM42 million funds to be transferred into his personal bank account.

“First of all I would like to say that I am very disappointed with the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal this morning,” he told reporters in a press conference organised by his legal team, Shafee & Co.

“The central issue in respect to the SRC case revolves around the RM42 million transferred into my personal account.

“I would like to reiterate that I didn’t know, nor did I ask for it, nor did I direct anyone for the RM42 million to be transferred into my account.

“As a Muslim, I have sworn in the name of Allah that I didn’t know nor did I ask for it, nor did I direct anyone for the amount to be transferred to my personal account,” he said.

The Pekan MP said he had instructed his team of lawyers to file an immediate appeal at the Federal Court.

Najib failed to overturn his conviction and sentence for seven charges linked to the RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds at the Court of Appeal this morning.

A three-member bench chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil delivered its unanimous decision in hybrid proceedings.

Najib was found guilty of seven charges of money-laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, in July last year. He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million.

In the verdict today, Karim and the bench presiding over the case agreed with trial judge Nazlan’s finding that Najib had personal interest in the cabinet’s approval of government guarantee for a RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) to SRC International.
 
On whether he will contest in the upcoming 15th general elections, Najib said he will decide on that when the time comes.
 
“We will cross the bridge when we come to it.
 
“First of all, we don’t know when the GE is and there are political and personal considerations to be made,” he added.
 
A motion for a stay of execution was also filed along with the appeal in the Federal Court, which the Appellate Court has consented to.
  
Najib is currently on bail of RM2 million in two sureties and has to report to the nearest police station twice in a month.  
 
If the court had not agreed to it, Najib would have been disqualified from contesting in any upcoming elections. 
 
He has held the Pekan seat since 1976. – December 8, 2021.