KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak had signed a draft memo prepared to place SRC International Sdn Bhd under the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc) at a military airbase in February 2012.
Datuk Mat Noor Nawi, former Treasury deputy secretary-general (Policy), testified that Najib had signed the draft document prepared by him at the Subang Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) airbase on February 3, 2012.
“He (Najib) read the draft…each paragraph…every page and to my surprise, signed the draft copy on the first page where he agreed to the suggestion to place SRC International under MoF Inc,” he said during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim.
Prior to the transfer of ownership, SRC International was a wholly-owned subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
SRC International was officially placed under MoF Inc on February 14, 2012.
Mat Noor, who is the prosecution’s 44th witness in the trial, said the draft memo carried neither the Finance Ministry letterhead nor his letterhead.
Asked to explain how the draft memo was prepared, Mat Noor said SRC International chief executive Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil’s aide and 1MDB officer, Zahid Taib had contacted him on Feb 2, 2012, saying Najib wanted to see the draft at 8am the next day.
“When I got a call from Zahid, he informed that the prime minister wanted to see the draft letter and he asked MoF Inc to submit its draft.
“I then instructed MoF Inc to prepare the said draft on February 2 and it was then submitted to me for the PM’s viewing.
“This (draft) letter did not have my letterhead and the official stamp of the prime minister and finance minister,” he explained.
Meanwhile he also considered Najib’s decision to sign a letter dated January 9, 2012, a “top-down” decision-making process as it was written by SRC International and addressed to Najib as the prime minister.
The letter prepared by Nik Faisal indicated among others for SRC International to be placed under MoF Inc.
“When the PM minuted the letter with ‘I agree with the suggestion’, then we will just execute the decision and formalised the whole process.
“I categorise this as in the second category (top-down) as the prime minister has indicated that he agrees with the matter and Nik Faisal wrote in the letter that he was writing in on the PM’s advice.
“Nik Faisal may have very likely discussed and obtained verbal agreement from the then PM before SRC International wrote the letter,” he explained.
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