by RAHIMI YUNUS & ALIFAH ZAINUDDIN/ pic by ARIF KARTONO

DATUK Seri Mohd Najib Razak had admitted to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) of signing bank documents related to SRC International Sdn Bhd and his personal bank accounts involving multimillion ringgit transactions, said a witness.

MACC senior assistant commissioner Rosli Hussain testified that the former prime minister (PM) did not deny that the signatures on the documents such as account opening forms, credit cards and transfer instructions were his, during statements that were taken between 2015 and 2018.

The prosecution’s 57th witness said the MACC had recorded Najib’s statements on three occasions dated Dec 15, 2015, May 22, 2018, and May 24, 2018.

“All the documents were referred to Najib and he confirmed that the signatures were his. He did not deny them,” Rosli said during the trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday.

Lead defence counsel Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, however, argued that the testimony was inadmissible on grounds of hearsay.

“We are not objecting yet, but we want to put it on record that what the witness said is hearsay, unless there are documents to show otherwise,” he said.

On the 54th day of the trial yesterday, Rosli verified that various documents had been received by the MACC from AmBank Group Bhd and Affin Bank Bhd in relations to the SRC case.

The documents include Real-time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities System forms, cheque images and thermal receipts on the transactions between SRC, Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd.

On July 6, 2015, Bank Negara Malaysia’s investigators conducted operations at AmBank and Affin Bank, and seized documents related to accounts that were linked to SRC, Gandingan Mentari and Ihsan Perdana.

Rosli, who is also the investigating officer of the SRC case, said the MACC had failed to obtain some of the original copies of the documents.

Najib is charged with criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power involving RM42 million SRC funds allegedly channelled into his bank accounts.

Gandingan Mentari and Ihsan Perdana — purportedly SRC’s corporate social responsibility partner — were believed to be the vehicles used to channel the funds from SRC.

The SRC trial continues today with examination-in-chief on Rosli for about an hour, before cross-examination begins. Rosli is the final prosecution witness in the trial.

The prosecution expects to conclude the SRC trial by Friday and start Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial by next week.

In the 1MDB case, Najib faces 25 charges over billions allegedly credited into his bank accounts, money transfers to associates and power misuse in the country’s largest money-laundering trial in history.

In September last year, the ousted PM was charged with 21 counts of money laundering involving RM4.3 billion and four counts of corruption involving RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds.