Today in the High Court of Kuala Lumpur, it was revealed that SRC International Sdn Bhd had neglected to perform due diligence on a significant RM1.8 billion loan from the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) before transferring it to offshore accounts purportedly for investment purposes.
Former director of SRC International, Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, aged 54, testified that the lack of due diligence was due to the approval of the directors’ circular resolution (DCR) by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who served as both the Prime Minister and Finance Minister at the time.
In his testimony as a third party in the US$1.18 billion civil suit filed by SRC International against Najib and its former CEO, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, Shahrol Azral stated, “I felt I had to do it because it was the PM’s instruction. I would prefer to have more information, but I went ahead and signed it anyway.
It wasn’t just an instruction; it was signed by the PM and the former finance minister and the 1MDB shareholders, making it very strong.”
He further elaborated, “We tried to obtain as much information as possible, but when it came to implementation, the PM had signed it… so we had to do it. If the PM thought it was a good idea, I believe it was considered.”
The loan funds were subsequently transferred to Falcon Private Bank Ltd in Switzerland and Julius Baer in Hong Kong for the purported purpose of acquiring two companies in Indonesia (PT ABM Investama and Bumi Resources TBK PT) and two companies in Mongolia (Gobi Coal and Energy Limited and Erdens-Tavan Tolgoi).
The ongoing trial continues to shed light on the intricate details of financial transactions involving SRC International and its key stakeholders, with Shahrol Azral’s testimony providing crucial insights into the decision-making process behind the handling of substantial funds.
