KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had never denied that the signatures on the documents related to his personal AmBank accounts which received and transferred the RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd were his, a witness in the SRC trial told the High Court.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation officer Rosli Hussain, who is the 57th and final prosecution witness in the SRC trial, told this to High Court justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali during his examination-in-chief which continued today.
Rosli said this after a tedious session where he identified documents linked to Najib’s five AmBank accounts from 2011 to 2015.
These included instruction letters by Najib and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil — who was SRC’s CEO and the mandate holder of Najib’s accounts — as well as cheques issued from those accounts.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim asked if Rosli checked with Najib on whether signatures of the former premier that are present on some of the documents, were indeed his.
Rosli responded that he did, during the three times they met to take Najib’s statement on May 12, 2015, May 22, 2018, and on May 24, 2018, in relation to the SRC trial.
“All these documents have been shown to Najib, and he confirmed that the signatures were his and there was no denial said by him [about the signatures],” Rosli said.
At this point, Najib’s lead defense counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah stood up.
“We are not objecting yet, but want to put on record that what the witness has said is hearsay, unless there is documents to show otherwise,” Shafee said.
Immediately, lead prosecution lawyer Datuk V Sithambaram responded that the counsels will “make a submission at the appropriate time”.
Najib is facing seven criminal charges of money laundering and abuse of power for allegedly receiving RM42 million from SRC into three of his AmBank accounts in 2014-2015.
The hearing continues at 9am tomorrow.