KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had never questioned the founder and writer of Sarawak Report Clare Rewcastle Brown regarding an article entitled ‘Najib Razak’s Personal Accounts Linked To 1MDB Money Trail Malaysia Exclusive’ published in 2015.
MACC senior assistant Commissioner Special Operations Division Rosli Husain, 54, said throughout handling the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, he had never met Rewcastle Brown or directed any officer to meet her.
“I also did not investigate how she could release the article on July 2, 2015,“ he said during a cross-examination by lawyer Harvinderjit Singh on the 55th day of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s trial on seven charges of misappropriation of SRC funds amounting to RM42 million.
Rosli, investigating officer for the case, said the investigation was based on a report obtained from MACC Accounting Forensics Division Assistant Commissioner Prem Raj dated July 6, 2015.
“The investigation was based on information published online through an article dated July 2, 2015 on the Sarawak Report website,“ he said, adding that he was appointed as the case investigating officer on July 6, 2015.
When asked if the Sarawak Report article dated July 2, 2015 was among the reasons behind report 25/2015 was made, Rosli replied “Yes”.
The 57th prosecution witness however denied that the article in the Wall Street Journal was among the reasons that led to the opening of the SRC case investigation paper.
“The article I was given was the previous one (Sarawak Report) and not this one (Wall Street Journal). I had never seen or been shown the article,“ he said.
Rosli added that upon receiving a report from Prem, an investigation paper was opened to investigate suspected offences under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act 2009.
He said the SRC case investigation papers were submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office on December 31, 2015 and was again submitted to the same office on June 12, 2018.
Rosli also said that a total of 193 witnesses were called to give their statement during the investigation.
“The last recorded conversation was of Bank Negara Malaysia officer Suzairizman Shuib in May 2019,“ he said.
Earlier, during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim, the witness said that he had not received any documents from the defense saying that the signature in the documents used in the trial was not the signature of the accused or had been forged.
Najib, 66, faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, one misuse of position and three counts of money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC International’s funds.
The trial before Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali continues Thursday. — Bernama
