KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — The recent developments in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM42 million SRC International Sdn Bhd trial has led his lead defence counsel to question the practices of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) when recording statements during investigations.
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, speaking at the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, raised doubts over MACC’s practice, after prosecution witness Datuk Suboh Md Yassin had agreed during cross examination that his signature could have been lifted and reproduced onto bank documents related to SRC International.
Shafee pointed out that Suboh himself was shocked at the similarities in the documents after a comparison of his signatures was carried out using juxtapositions on transparencies in open court during the trial, but nothing similar done by MACC investigators.
“We have proven in court signature on 17 documents came from one signature of Datuk Suboh, which was lifted by someone and then used and reused 17 times.
“The witness was shocked that every single signature of his was in fact one signature, he does not even know from where it originated.
“MACC never showed him all these discrepancies, they are the investigating agencies, we are not. Why they did not do that, I would like to wait for the answer,” he said.
Shafee was referring to Real Time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities (Rentas) forms produced in court during Najib’s trial, where Suboh had agreed with the lawyer that his signature could have been lifted and reproduced onto other documents without his knowledge.
Suboh, a former director at SRC International, was appointed onto the board during the company’s formation back in August 2011.
He is the prosecution’s 42nd witness and the second former director to take testify in Najib’s RM42 million SRC International trial.
Over the course of his testimony, Suboh’s statements to the MACC for investigations into SRC International in 2015 up to this year were produced in court, where it was noted that he had changed his position of whether or not his signatures on the Rentas documents were penned by himself.
It was revealed in court how Suboh had declared to the MACC that he had not penned what appeared to be his signatures in 11 related Rentas documents shown to him during two separate interviews post elections last May.
However, it was revealed that Suboh had changed his position concerning the authenticity of his signatures during a third interview with MACC investigators, in July last year after Najib was charged.
Shafee today also raised doubts as to the timing of Suboh changing his position over his signatures when recording his statement with MACC, adding how the latter was shocked when presented with the comparisons during cross examination.
“After Najib was charged, he was called in for another occasion [by MACC], but on this occasion surprisingly he suddenly turns back [on his word] and said all these are his signatures.
“And then he came to court with a prepared statement and he said these are all his signatures [on the Rentas forms], but during cross examination he said these [signatures] are not his when I took him through with the projector.
“His jaw dropped because the signatures were proven to be duplicates; cut and paste,” he said.
