This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on December 20, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he had “sensed” there was money in his private account without checking the balance when he wrote a cheque for RM2.5 million for then close political aide Habibul Rahman Kadir Shah Kadir.

Najib yesterday told the court that he had next to no knowledge of the funds in his account when issuing cheques amounting to millions of ringgit.

He also maintained he was under the impression that the money in his account at that time was from “Arab donations” and not SRC International Sdn Bhd.

He said he relied solely on former SRC managing director and chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, currently missing, and his former principal private secretary, the late Datuk Azlin Alias, to manage his AmBank accounts. He also claimed that both men did not disclose to him the exact sum in his account.

Najib was answering questions from ad hoc prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram during his cross-examination yesterday.

Sithambaram: As far as you are concerned, Nik Faisal was in charge.

Najib: Yes.

Sithambaram: Because you didn’t know the balance in the account, you would check with Nik Faisal when you write cheques?

Najib: No, I’ll ask Azlin.

Sithambaram: So you will ask Azlin and he will confirm?

Najib: Yes, he will check with Nik Faisal.

Najib said Azlin and Nik Faisal did not tell him the exact balance in the account. “I had a sense there was enough money in the account [when writing cheques].”

Najib, testifying as the first defence witness in his corruption trial, was asked by Sithambaram about the cheque for RM2.5 million — which he issued from his home — to Habibul.

Sithambaram: When you are at the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office), you checked with Azlin. But when you were at home, who did you check with?

Najib: I didn’t check with anybody, I just issued the cheque.

Sithambaram: But you issued millions of dollars in cheques from your home. You issued a cheque for RM2.5 million to Habibul.

Najib: I had a sense of the money in the account.

“Nobody issues cheques without knowing the balance in the account. You are the finance minister on top of that,” Sithambaram hit back.

Habibul had previously told the court that Najib had given him the funds to undertake “political operations” to obtain intelligence information. The cheque for RM2.5 million was issued to the law firm Zulqarnain & Co.

Najib then told the court that while he was “careful with government funds”, he “did not pay much attention to his personal accounts” as he had mandate holders to take care of that.

Sithambaram then asked Najib about an incident last year where the former premier alleged that police personnel pilfered chocolates while conducting raids in luxury condominiums linked to his family. Sithambaram brought up this point to Najib that he was a “careful man” who even kept stock of his chocolates.

Sithambaram: I don’t mean to bring this up, but last year when the police were raiding your apartment, you said they took some chocolates?

Najib: It’s not mine; it’s my daughter who said this.

Sithambaram: I find it [difficult] that you didn’t know how much is in the account, [but] when you know that someone took [your] chocolates.

During cross-examination, Najib admitted he did not know his credit card limit was RM3 million. “I just used them while overseas, but they were not frequently used,” he said.

Najib is facing seven counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds. He faces a 20-year jail term and a RM5 million fine or five times the amount laundered, whichever is higher, if found guilty.

The trial has adjourned for the year and will resume on Jan 6, 2020.