KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court heard that Datuk Seri Najib Razak's AmIslamic bank account, which received USD$70mil, was a corporate social responsibility (CSR) account and not a personal one.
Najib, 71, said the account was under his name but was not used for personal banking matters.
"It's not my personal, personal account. It's a personal CSR account but it doesn't qualify as a really personal account," he said on Thursday (Sept 26).
Najib was responding to a question from lawyer Datuk Lim Chee Wee in SRC International Sdn Bhd’s USD$1.18bil civil suit against him and SRC's former CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who is currently at large.
Najib testified as the only defendant witness while Lim represented SRC.
The now defunct account in question, ending in "-694", carried the code name "AmPrivate Banking-MR". It is one of the five accounts Najib had with AmBank, which were implicated in receiving funds from SRC and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Najib struggled to answer a question about documentary evidence on the source of the USD$70mil.
Lim: Based on your witness statement, you have made no reference to the source of this USD$70mil credited on Jan 3, 2012, into your personal AmIslamic account ending -694, that it is not SRC or KWAP monies.
Najib: Yes.
Lim: You have not produced any documentary evidence to show that this USD$70mil is not SRC or KWAP money. No documentary evidence.
Najib was silent for a moment before replying, "Can I come back to that?"
Lim: Did you request any independent verification as to the source of this USD$70mil credited into your personal AmIslamic bank account?
Najib: I did not request because I don't manage my accounts, okay? I was not in receipt of my account.
Under new management, SRC filed the legal action in May 2021, alleging that Najib had committed breach of trust, abuse of power, misappropriated the company's funds, and personally benefited from it.
It named Najib along with former directors Datuk Suboh Md Yassin, Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin, Nik Faisal, Datuk Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar, Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, and Tan Sri Ismee Ismail.
However, it later removed six names from the suit, retaining Najib and Nik Faisal as the first and second defendants.
Additionally, Najib has brought the former named SRC International directors as third-party respondents in the suit.
The company seeks damages, interest, costs, and a court declaration that Najib is responsible for the company’s losses due to his breach of duties and trust, and demands that Najib pay back the USD$1.18bil in losses it has suffered.
It is also seeking USD$120mil and USD$2mil from Najib and Nik Faisal respectively, on account of fraudulent breach of fiduciary duties and breach of trust.
The trial before Justice Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin continues this afternoon.
