This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 8, 2019 - July 14, 2019

FORMER SRC International Sdn Bhd non-executive director Datuk Suboh Md Yassin told the High Court last week that he was not aware that he had been put under witness protection.

Suboh said he left for a holiday to Jakarta with his wife on May 9 last year after voting in the 14th general election. He subsequently discovered that a travel ban had been placed on him after his son Sufian alerted him to it.

This led Suboh to contact the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah — lead counsel for Datuk Seri Najib Razak — asked Suboh if he was provided with a guarantee of some sort by MACC officer Raub Ghani to return to Malaysia.

Shafee: Was there a guarantee of some sort from [Raub]?

Suboh: No, no, no.

Shafee: Were you given witness protection? Because this had been announced even in court, that you were under witness protection.

Suboh: I don’t know.

The lawyer then continued to grill Suboh about whether witness protection had been granted to him but the witness maintained that he did not know.

Shafee asked Suboh if he was guarded by MACC officers. Suboh replied that the only guard he was aware of was the “pak guard” at his condominium.

When asked again if he was being monitored by MACC officers, Suboh responded, “Not that I know of.”

The absence of witness protection for Suboh contradicted previous reports, which had said that the MACC had met the witness and SRC CEO and managing director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil separately in Indonesia to record their statements.

Suboh said he cannot recall the exact date he returned to Malaysia, but said it was probably on May 27 or 28 last year, shortly before he met with MACC officers on May 28.

He has met with MACC officers six times, the first of which was on Nov 27, 2015, when his statement was recorded by MACC recording officer Syed Mohd Tarmizi Syed Musa.

Following the 14th general election, he met with MACC officers five more times on May 28, 30 and 31 as well as on Aug 13 and 15.

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