Ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram said Najib, as the then finance minister, was empowered by law to appoint Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) investment panel members, which included its chairman Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah and chief executive officer Azian Mohd Noh.
Wan Abdul Aziz was also Treasury secretary-general then.
Sithambaram said the panel, when deliberating SRC International’s second application in 2012, was informed that Najib was the one who had advised and approved the company’s request for the additional loan.
“This was a clear decision made by the appellant (Najib) which certainly influenced the investment panel to grant the additional loan to SRC.
“Could KWAP reject the loan approved by the appellant who was both prime minister and finance minister? The answer is a resounding No!,” Sithambaram submitted before a three-member bench chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.
KWAP, based on two government guarantees, gave the loan to SRC International to carry out and invest in projects associated with conventional and renewable energy resources, natural resources and minerals.
Sithambaram said evidence was adduced during trial in the High Court that SRC International had been advised to secure loans from commercial banks at prevailing market rates but the company came to KWAP following Najib’s approval.
He said that from the evidence in court, Najib had influenced KWAP to grant both the first and second loans.
“It certainly cannot be said that KWAP acted independently in granting both loans to SRC, a RM2 company as pointed out by the KWAP Investment Panel paper,” he said.
On a related subject, Sithambaram said Najib did not make any attempt to travel to Switzerland to bring back the bulk of the funds that were frozen by the authorities there for alleged money laundering.
“He did not make any effort to go to Switzerland to resolve the issue as SRC was Najib’s ‘baby’ and he was the only shareholder in the company,” he said.
Sithambaram said Najib also refused former finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah’s request to lead a delegation to verify the status of the SRC International fund and repatriate it to Malaysia.
“Najib’s motive for this refusal is highly questionable,” Sithambaram said.
In July last year, High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali sentenced Najib to 12 years’ jail and fined him RM210 million after finding him guilty of seven corruption charges in relation to the RM42 million belonging to SRC International.
Najib, who is Pekan MP, had been accused in the High Court of abusing his power as the prime minister by giving government guarantees for SRC International’s RM4 billion loan from KWAP.
He also faced three counts of criminal breach of trust and three money laundering charges in relation to RM42 million belonging to SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.
The hearing continues.