KUALA LUMPUR - Datuk Seri Najib Razak today told the High Court here that the US$120 million credited into his personal account via three transactions was not his personal income.
The 71-year-old former prime minister also made it clear that the money was not from SRC International Sdn Bhd or Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP).
Najib, as the first defendant, said this when queried by SRC International’s lawyer Datuk Lim Chee Wee, at SRC International’s US$1.18 billion civil suit against him and SRC former chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who is currently at large.
Lim: Datuk Seri, let's calculate your annual salary as its highest, let’s say RM1 million...but US$120 million was credited into your personal account. That (US$120 million) was not your personal source of income, right?
Najib: I never say it was.
Lim: I have to ask you because you never addressed it before this court.
Najib said based on the documents studied and analysed by his defence team, it was concluded that the US$120 million was not from SRC International or KWAP, however, and that he left the matter to his lawyers to submit as the money flow was complex.
To the question whether he had instructed police, Bank Negara Malaysia or Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate SRC International’s account frozen by the Swiss authorities, Najib said, "No instruction on the particular account, but I told the company’s management to bring back the money”.
To another question whether he had asked the authorities to provide the report (on the investigation linked to the frozen account), Najib said, "I expected them to give it to me as it was important to them to give it.”
In May 2021, under the new management, SRC filed the lawsuit, accusing Najib of breach of trust, abuse of power, and personally benefiting from the company’s funds and misappropriating the said funds.
SRC International previously removed five of its directors from the lawsuit, retaining Najib as the sole defendant. However, the High Court permitted Najib to issue third-party notices against them.
The company is seeking a court declaration holding Najib accountable for the company's losses due to his alleged breach of duties and trust and for him to compensate the RM42 million in losses they have incurred.
The trial before Judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin continues tomorrow. - BERNAMA