PUTRAJAYA (April 21): The prosecution in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's SRC International Sdn Bhd case has argued that because he held the position of prime minister and finance minister, he should have ascertained that the money entering his accounts — from which he had issued several cheques — had come from legitimate sources.
Ad-hoc prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram said it would be puzzling if Najib was not concerned at all when such an enormous amount of money was transferred into his accounts.
“If these funds come in, surely you must ascertain [the origins of] the large amounts of money such as the RM42 million [from SRC] coming in. You must make enquiries of the source and legality of these funds.
“Turning a blind eye to millions being deposited into your account on the sole reason that the management of the bank accounts had been delegated to former SRC managing director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, and that for five years he did not personally know the balance in his account, is completely and totally unbelievable.”
“As PM and finance minister, you would be worried over what is in your account,” he said.
Sithambaram said Najib's answers showed that the truth was being withheld from the court.
This, he added, is what the trial judge described as the accused's “willful blindness” or obliviousness in his expenditure.
“When you receive millions, a bank account holder must be vigilant to ensure the proceeds are not from any unlawful activity,” said Sithambaram.
The prosecution, he said, submitted that willful blindness is an acknowledgement of actual knowledge that is possessed by Najib.
He cited a judgement made by former Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif in the case Public Prosecutor vs Herlina Purnama Sari where he stated:
“Wilful blindness necessarily entails an element of deliberate action. If the person concerned has a clear reason to be suspicious that something is amiss but then embarks on a deliberate decision not to make further inquiries in order to avoid confirming what the actual situation is, then such a decision is necessarily a deliberate one.
“The key threshold element in the doctrine of willful blindness itself is that of suspicion followed by (and coupled with) a deliberate decision not to make further investigations.”
Monies spent proves knowledge
While submitting on the money laundering charges, Sithambaram said the fact that the former premier had used the RM42 million in the AmBank accounts to issue cheques for political purposes, charity and also payment of credit cards after purchasing jewellery and a watch for his wife showed he has knowledge and committed money laundering.
The transactions involved the purchase of jewellery from De Grisogono in Italy and a Chanel watch in Honolulu for a total of RM3.3 million, said Sithambaram.
During the cross-examination of Najib, the former premier revealed that the purchases were made by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
Najib had previously testified that the jewellery was purchased by Rosmah as a gift for the wife of Qatar's ex-prime minister Sheikh Hamad Jassim Jaber Al Thani and the funds from his account were used to pay off the credit card bill which included that transaction.
During the main trial, it was revealed that the jewellery was purchased during the couple's trip to Italy on Aug 8, 2014.
While being cross-examined, Najib said the RM3.3 million purchase was for “a single piece of jewellery”. However, when Sithambaram showed the former premier that his bank statements had listed the purchase of 10 items from De Grisogono on that date, he then admitted that his wife may have purchased a set.
Meanwhile, the RM466,330.11 Chanel watch was purchased for Rosmah in December 2014, after the former premier had to cut short his holiday in Hawaii, the US, as a result of the terrible floods in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.
The former premier is appealing his 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine after the High Court found him guilty of abuse of power with regard to the RM4 billion Retirement Fund Inc loan given to SRC in 2011 and 2012, as well as criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of the company’s funds.
The hearing before the three-member appellate bench chaired by Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil will continue tomorrow, where the prosecution is expected to wrap up their submissions.