PETALING JAYA: Almost RM779,000 in cheques were issued from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s bank account in early 2015, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.
Witnesses in the money-laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) trial over RM42 million of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd, said the amount was to fund efforts to understand online news narratives and influence them to favour Najib and his administration.
The Centre for Strategic Engagement Sdn Bhd (Cense) said it was paid RM150,000 a month to monitor six major local Chinese newspapers to identify issues affecting the Chinese community. The six Chinese newspapers named were Sin Chew Daily, Nanyang Siang Pau, Kwong Wah Jit Poh, China Press, Guang Ming Daily and Oriental Daily.
Cense director Rita Sim, 59, said the company received a total of RM300,000 in payment for service rendered for December 2014 and January 2015 through a cheque banked into the company’s account at RHB Bank in Bangsar.
A former political secretary of Najib testified that he helped influential businessman, Lim Soon Peng, to pay off the administrators of the Facebook group ‘Ah Jib Gor’. It was tasked to influence online Chinese users and garner support from them.
Wong Nai Chee testified that an online website, Chinese Weekly, also received money for the same purpose. Both outfits received RM238,914.
Hafiz Ghazi, a Johor Umno politician and great-grandson of Datuk Onn Jaafar, also testified to receiving RM240,000 to fund Malaysian Digest, an ‘alternative’ news website that promoted the government policies of Barisan Nasional.
