Can we deal with it later? says Najib when asked about millions in his account
This is the second day Najib had been seen as attempting to evade questions on the issue.
(NST) – Datuk Seri Najib Razak remains tight-lipped about the millions of funds remitted into his personal bank account purportedly from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) since 2011.
“Can we deal with it later?” said the incarcerated former prime minister when he was asked about the issue by SRC International Bhd’s lawyer Datuk Lim Chee Wee today.
The 71-year-old was testifying in a US$1.18 billion civil suit filed by SRC International against him and its former chief executive, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
Lim was pressing Najib over the RM27 million funds that was remitted into his AmBank account.
Najib also gave Lim a similar answer when the lawyer asked for documentary evidence to show that US$120 million in his account were not from SRC International or KWAP.
It was previously reported that SRC-BVI liquidator Angela Barkhouse, when testifying in the same trial, said the funds were deposited into Najib’s account in three tranches: US$70 million on December 29, 2011, and US$25 million each on March 12, 2012, and May 22, 2012, respectively.
This is the second day Najib had been seen as attempting to evade questions on the issue.
During yesterday’s proceedings, Lim pressed Najib over the US$70 million that was channelled into his account, asking whether he had any documentary evidence to suggest that the funds were not misappropriated from SRC International or KWAP.
Najib requested to revisit the matter at a later time.
In a separate matter, Najib explained that he could not oversee every detail of how the company’s funds were used, as that responsibility rested with the board and management.
“The company’s board and management are the key decision-makers, so when I chose to support SRC from a macro perspective. My goal was for SRC to succeed in its mission of finding alternative energy for the country.
“The board and the management have to decide on the viability of investment, no PM (prime minister) in the world would because that is the work of technocrats not politicians,” he said.
SRC, under its new management, filed the suit in May 2021, claiming that Najib had committed a breach of trust and abuse of power, had personally benefited from the company’s funds and misappropriated the said funds.
It is also seeking a court declaration that Najib is responsible for the company’s losses due to his breach of duties and trust and for Najib to pay back the RM42 million in losses it has suffered.
The trial before Justice Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin continues.
