KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 9): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has contended that the judge who sentenced him to 12 years in jail and a fine of RM210 million was directly involved in proposing, strategising and advising on a RM140 million loan facility given by Maybank to help establish SRC International Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

In a bid to adduce fresh evidence in his final appeal against a guilty verdict in the SRC trial, Najib said that while Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali was not responsible for setting up SRC, the judge, who was general counsel and company secretary for Maybank Group in 2006, was instrumental in providing the loan facility for SRC.

Maybank's wholly owned strategic advisory division, Bina Fikir Sdn Bhd, was tasked with the research and advisory matters pertaining to the establishment of SRC.

The alleged involvement of Maybank through Maybank Investment and Bina Fikir in the setting up of SRC was never brought up at any point in the SRC trial, and no witnesses from these entities were called or offered by the prosecution.

In an affidavit in reply to the prosecution in the case, Najib is contending that the loan of RM140 million given by Maybank is the very same money from which RM42 million ended up in his private accounts, and of which he was convicted.

“Nazlan was intimately involved in the loan facility extended to 1MDB,” Najib’s affidavit claimed.

“The additional evidence I seek to adduce shows that Maybank had proposed the establishment of SRC to 1MDB, and that it was formally engaged to provide strategic advisory services for this purpose,” Najib said in his affidavit.

“I am of the respectful view that these facts are sufficient to connect Maybank and Justice Nazlan to the setting up of SRC, which is an important event in the factual matrix of my case.”

Najib then went on to reiterate that this information was not known to him at the trial stage of his case and was only made known to him on May 9 this year when an anonymous package was sent to his house which contained documents about Nazlan’s involvement in Maybank’s loan to 1MDB.

“I was unaware of Justice Nazlan's knowledge and involvement in the proposing, strategising, and advising on that transaction leading to the establishment of SRC,” Najib said in the affidavit, adding that this was a “conflict of interest”.

He said Nazlan’s involvement in these transactions “severely impaired” the judge's “objectivity and independence”.

Najib also said it is “alien” and “startling” that he is required to carry out due diligence on a High Court judge before trial, and that the former PM is under no duty to do so.

The Pekan MP added that Nazlan has a special duty to disclose this information before the trial and the judge's failure to do so had rendered the proceedings at the High Court null and void.

On July 28, 2020, Najib was found guilty by Nazlan of all seven graft charges in relation to SRC, comprising one abuse of power charge in approving Retirement Fund (Incorporated)'s (KWAP) loans of RM4 billion to SRC between 2011 and 2012, and three counts each of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering involving RM42 million worth of SRC funds.

Najib was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million for the abuse of power charge, and 10 years' jail for each of the CBT and money laundering charges. The jail terms are to run concurrently.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and sentence. In a strongly worded judgement, it remarked that SRC, which started off as a national interest venture, had in the end become a national embarrassment.

Najib is appealing the Court of Appeal decision at the Federal Court, which is fixed for Aug 15 to 26. He is asking the apex court to admit additional oral evidence from several witnesses, including four Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers, which the former PM said will establish Nazlan’s conflict of interest.

Najib's affidavit was filed by Messrs Zaid Ibrahim Suflan TH Liew and Partners, who are his new solicitors in the matter as he recently dismissed his previous lawyers Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Harvinderjit Singh. The former premier also appointed senior criminal lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik as lead counsel.