SRC trial : High Court to decide whether to grant Najib's request for handwriting expert

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 22): High Court Judge Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is expected to deliver his ruling today on whether to grant former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's request for a handwriting expert to examine 13 purported contemperoneous documents containing his signature.

Najib and his defence team have been harping on the calling of an Australian expert to look at the documents as Najib claims he is unsure whether the documents tendered as evidence, which are mostly photocopies, contain his signatures.

As such, he is questioning the validity of the documents, which underscores the basis of the application for the handwriting expert. Najib said this in his defence testimony after SRC International Sdn Bhd former director Datuk Suboh Md Yassin also claimed his signatures could have been forged.

The prosecution had not called a handwriting expert at the prosecution stage because there was no dispute over Najib's signature until he testified in his defence.

After Mohd Nazlan's ruling, Najib will continue to undergo cross examination by prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram.

Yesterday, Najib denied there was a need to inform former second finance minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, who oversaw Minister of Finance Inc (MOF Inc) companies, on the transfer of SRC's ownership from 1Malaysia Development Bhd to MOF Inc.

Najib also admitted that the second RM2 billion loan from the Retirement Fund Inc, which is also known as Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) 
to SRC was given despite SRC not showing progress on the first KWAP loan of a similar amount.

In the second loan to SRC, the government guarantee was issued by the Cabinet first before the company applied for the loan from KWAP.

Najib defended the loan disbursements because there was a need to invest in alternative energy. 

Najib further said he took action on SRC by replacing Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil as managing director and chief executive officer despite maintaining him as a director.

Nik Faisal, who is also a fugitive, manages Najib's AmIslamic Bank accounts.

The Edge is bringing the proceedings live.