KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — A former Finance Ministry official told the High Court today that the pressure he received was not “malicious” in nature when he was told to expedite a federal guarantee of SRC International’s Sdn Bhd’s first RM2 billion loan in 2011.
Datuk Maliami Hamad, formerly the secretary of the ministry’s Loan Management, Financial Market and Actuary Division, clarified the the term “pressured” he used in his witness statement during cross-examination by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Maliami said the stress was because his officers had to speed up preparation of the Cabinet memorandum, compared to their usual pace.
Muhammad Shafee: The pressure you received to expedite the process does not mean anything mischievous?
Maliami: Yes, correct.
Yesterday Maliami testified that orders came repeatedly from Najib, which were verbally conveyed through the then Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah and the ex-PM’s then aide Datuk Azlin Alias.
Najib also held the portfolio of finance minister.
Today, Maliami also denied telling his subordinate Afidah Azwa Abdul Aziz that SRC International belonged to the prime minister as claimed by the latter when she testified previously.
Afidah, who is the prosecution’s 41st witness, testified that she had confronted Maliami on the need to expedite the preparation of an internal memo for the Cabinet’s deliberation over the granting of the first government guarantee for SRC International.
Maliami said Afidah Azwa might have used “daily conversation slang” when she previously described to court what was said to her.
“Maybe she used daily slang to reflect that SRC is a company that receives attention from the prime minister himself. Maybe she used daily language,” he replied when asked to confirm if such words were uttered.
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