Najib: Nik Faisal toyed with me and SRC board

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 4): Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, the former managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of SRC International Sdn Bhd, had toyed with him and the company's board of directors.

Najib was reading out his witness statement to the High Court today in his trial involving charges of embezzling funds from the former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) subsidiary, where he refuted earlier testimonies saying that he would give directions to the board through Nik Faisal, who was the sole link between both parties.

"I never directed the board of directors on the same matter. I was not in any position to micro-manage any MoF Inc company, including SRC. Furthermore, SRC was not the only MoF Inc company that [was] involved in national interest at that time. There was no reason for me to direct the SRC board of director through Nik Faisal," he said.

"This is not how a MoF Inc company works. SRC was not exempted. During my limited number of meeting[s] with Nik Faisal, he informed me briefly [of] SRC board of director decisions about the company's investments after in-depth discussion and due diligence conducted through external consultants."

Najib also said SRC's former chairman Tan Sri Ismee Ismail has his private mobile number, and found it odd that the latter did not contact him directly to verify matters related to SRC funds.

"Now it is clear that Nik Faisal had toyed with two parties. To me, he said these matters were decided by the board of directors, and to the board of directors, he said I had directed the matter to be done in certain ways. But what I feel odd was why SRC directors, including [Ismee], did not even bother to verify these matters with me directly and accepted Nik Faisal's words all the way through," he added.

The former premier added that despite meeting Ismee several times, the latter had never asked him about matters that Nik Faisal told SRC's board of directors.

Najib is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust, one charge of abusing his power as Prime Minister, and three counts of money laundering over SRC funds amounting to RM42 million.

The Edge is reporting the proceedings of the SRC trial live. 

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