SRC board, not Najib, responsible for company's funds, says ex-PM's lawyers
KUALA LUMPUR : The High Court here was told today that SRC International Sdn Bhd's board and management had exclusive control of the company's operations and loan funds received from Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP).
Lawyer Farhan Shafee Abdullah – representing former prime minister Najib Razak in SRC International's US$1.18 billion civil suit against him and former SRC CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil – submitted that his client had no control over the company.
Farhan said all transactions were carried out by the board, which also bore responsibility for overseeing the company's affairs.
'If any misappropriation occurred, it was the result of the board's own decisions.
'Even taking Najib's alleged instructions at their highest, responsibility ultimately rested with the board to properly manage the funds within those parameters,' he said.
Farhan also dismissed SRC International's claim that Najib acted as a shadow director or the de facto controller of the company.
He submitted that Najib was not part of the company's governing board and did not assume the fiduciary duties of a director.
'The evidence shows the SRC board exercised independent judgement and was not accustomed to act on Najib's instructions,' he said.
Farhan added that SRC International had not produced any instance of Najib issuing a binding directive to the board on operational matters.
He said the company's own witness, former BSI Bank wealth management head Kevin Swampillai, had testified that he did not receive, see or become aware of any instruction from Najib directing the transfer or investment of SRC International's funds.
'All instructions for the movement of funds came from Jho Low (Low Taek Jho) and SRC officers, including (former director) Suboh Yasin – not Najib. This is a striking admission from the plaintiff's own witness.
'Despite Najib's position, no directive from him was ever communicated to the bank handling the money,' he said.
The hearing before Justice Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin will continue at a later date.
SRC International is suing Najib and Nik Faisal – who remains at large – for allegedly misappropriating company property and conspiring to convert it for their own use.
Judgment in default of appearance has been entered against Nik Faisal.
The suit originally included former SRC International chairman Ismee Ismail and former directors Suboh, Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Azhar Osman Khairuddin and Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar as co-defendants.
SRC International later dropped the case against them, but Najib named them as third parties in his defence.
Najib is currently serving a jail sentence in Kajang prison for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International.
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