KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today heard the unorthodox manner in which SRC International Sdn Bhd was taken out of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and placed under the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
A former MOF senior officer also revealed how everything concerning SRC International’s placement under MOF Inc was decided from the top down instead of the other way round where certain procedures needed to be followed.
Former Treasury deputy secretary-general Datuk Mat Noor Nawi said Datuk Sri Najib Razak signed off for SRC International to be placed under MOF Inc on Feb 3, 2012.
Mat Noor said he was instructed to prepare a draft copy of the proposal and told to meet Najib at Subang Airport that day.
“I went to the airport early that morning with Zahid Talib, who was the 1MDB link man with the MOF.
“Najib arrived about 8am, asked for the letter and read every paragraph. To my surprise, he signed the draft copy immediately after that,” he said.
Mat Noor said Najib signed the draft copy, there and then, by placing it on the bonnet of his car .
With that, he said, the prime minister had agreed for SRC International to be placed under MOF Inc.
The 64-year-old pensioner said as the draft copy was written on a normal paper without the MOF letterhead, he had to return to the office and prepare a second copy to make it look official.
“I had to photocopy the draft copy on a MOF letterhead and put all the official stamps on it,” he said during examination in chief conducted by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim.
Mat Noor then went on to explain how the whole process was a top down decision made by the prime minister and executed by the downstream MOF officers.
Normally, he said, any company which wanted to come under MOF Inc must make a formal application before it was deliberated on by several layers of officers, including those from the Treasury and Second Finance Minister before it was brought to the Minister of Finance’s attention.
He said there was also a due diligence process which needed to be done but was neglected in SRC International’s case.
“Once it is approved by the prime minister, we forget the procedure and just execute the decision,” he said at one point during the cross examination by Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh.
Mat Noor was the 43rd prosecution witness to testify in Najib’s case involving the abuse of SRC International funds.
Earlier, another prosecution witness, Datuk Maliami Hamad, 65, also testified that it was a top down decision to grant SRC International two government guarantees for its RM4 billion loan.
Maliami, who was the Finance Ministry secretary (management, loan, capital market and acturial) said he was instructed by his superior to process the company’s applications for the government guarantees following instruction from “top people”.
He said his former boss, Tan Sri Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, had received orders from top people, referring to Najib.
Najib is charged with seven counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money involving RM42 million of SRC International funds.
He is charged with committing the offences between Aug 17, 2011, and Feb 10, 2015.
The 66-year-old former Umno president faces 20 years jail and a fine for the offences.
The trial before judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali will continue tomorrow.