Counsel Lim Chee Wee, representing SRC in its US$1.18 billion civil suit against the former prime minister, said the board was not even consulted when the loans of RM2 billion each were sought in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Delivering his closing submissions in the case, Lim dismissed Najib’s defence that it was the directors’ responsibility to safeguard use of the funds.
“What board of directors? The SRC board was only constituted on Aug 23, 2011.
“By then, the first defendant (Najib) had already resolved to operationalise SRC and had determined where the funds were to be placed.
“SRC had already applied for the first KWAP loan, the government guarantee had been approved, and the first loan disbursed,” Lim told the court.
The company further contended that Najib, then also the finance minister, could not shift responsibility onto the board even after it was formed, as several matters fell outside its remit.
These included the issuance of government guarantees, personal instructions to KWAP to procure the loans and the approval of short-term borrowings — all of which allegedly came under Najib’s authority.
Lim also rejected Najib’s claim that he was too preoccupied to deal with due diligence or the finer details, calling the excuse untenable.
He said that SRC was no ordinary venture, noting that billions of ringgit from civil servants’ pension funds had been channelled into the company under the pretext of pursuing energy security.
“Indeed, SRC was even conceptualised as an entity akin to Petronas. Ultimately, no energy security was achieved,” he said.
SRC International is suing Najib and its former CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who remains at large, for allegedly misappropriating company property and dishonestly conspiring to convert it to their own use.
The suit originally included former SRC chairman Ismee Ismail, as well as former directors Suboh Yasin, Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Azhar Osman Khairuddin and Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar, as co-defendants.
SRC later dropped the case against them. However, they were added as third parties by Najib.
The hearing before Justice Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin will continue tomorrow.
Najib was convicted of misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International and has been serving his sentence at Kajang prison since Aug 23, 2022.
He filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022.
The Federal Territories Pardons Board later halved his prison term from 12 years to six and reduced his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.