by SHAFIQQUL ALIFF / TMRpic

THE money flow trail clearly showed that RM42 million of funds from AmBank (M) Bhd’s accounts owned by SRC International Sdn Bhd of several companies were deposited into the personal accounts of Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak (picture), said senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram.

Sithambaram told the court that the money was transferred through the bank accounts of his subsidiaries Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd which are the companies that operate the corporate social responsibility programme for SRC International.

He said Najib did not make any report or complaint to AmBank and did not take any action regarding the sum of RM42 million that was deposited into his personal account.

“It was confirmed through Najib’s bank account statements with numbers ending 880 and 906.

“The movement of the funds involved through Gandingan Mentari and Ihsan Perdana did not reveal any difference regarding the deed that they were funds belonging to SRC International which were diverted to the appellant’s account.

“The learned judge found this to be a legal fiction and it is untenable. It is due to the fact that there was no reason for SRC International to transfer funds to Gandingan Mentari and subsequently to Ihsan Perdana.

“The only logical reason is that it was done in such a way as to avoid detection and this is confirmed by the transfer being made on the same day without a valid reason as part of the layering process often used by criminals,” he said.

Sithambaram said the 37th prosecution’s witness told the court that the money did not belong to Ihsan Perdana but was instead used as a channel to transfer funds to the appellant’s undisclosed account to avoid detection by the authorities.

“The appellant’s defence that he did not know the source of the funds was also a deliberate lie because his own sworn statement confirmed his knowledge that the RM42 million came from SRC International and went into his bank account.

“According to the law, this is a written acknowledgment and the appellant also used the RM42 million fund for his own use. “All funds under the SRC International at any time and from whatever source are clearly the property of the SRC International,” he said.