KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has filed a petition of appeal to the Federal Court citing 94 grounds on why the Court of Appeal had erred in upholding the High Court’s conviction of him for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
It was confirmed by sources that are familiar with the SRC trial that the petition of appeal had been filed on Monday (April 25).
Earlier, a federal three-member panel of judges led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim allowed Najib's application for an extension of time no later than Monday to file the petition.
The other two judges on the bench were Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan and Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan.
In the petition sighted by The Edge, Najib, through his lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, had stated that the Court of Appeal had erred in affirming the High Court’s decision in convicting Najib, who is also a former finance minister, on all seven charges at the end of the case.
“The appellant (Najib) is aggrieved by the serious errors in fact and law made by the Court of Appeal and the High Court in their respective Grounds of Judgement as a whole and except where expressly stated, the appellant holds the position that the findings in the entire Grounds of Judgement by the Court of Appeal and the High Court show serious errors,” it read.
It pointed out the “factual findings and inferences” of the Court of Appeal and High Court are “not fully proven and do not reflect the evidence comprehensively”.
Shafee also said that both courts had also erred “in fact and law in each of the factual findings that are not in favour of the appellant”. According to him, the courts had applied their own “logic and rationale contrary to the oral and/or documentary evidence” in the case.
Najib also claimed that the Court of Appeal was wrong in finding that High Court judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who has found him guilty and sentenced him to 12 years in prison, had correctly analysed and evaluated evidence in concluding the existence of Najib’s interest in SRC.
The petition also claimed that the Court of Appeal and High Court had made an error in finding that Najib had used SRC funds for his personal benefit as well as establishing his personal interest in SRC.
“The Court of Appeal erred in fact and/or in law in rejecting the appellant’s case that the decisions taken by the Cabinet and the appellant in granting the government guarantees was on the basis of national interest,” it read.
The crux of the SRC case is that Najib had used his authority as the prime minister and finance minister then to secure a RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) for SRC.
Najib had testified on the stand in his defence at the High Court that his consent to raise RM4 billion from KWAP loan was for “national interest”.
It was previously reported that about RM3.6 billion out of the RM4 billion loan from KWAP was taken out from SRC to a financial institution in Switzerland as a fixed deposit. The fixed deposit was later frozen by the Swiss authorities.
Meanwhile, RM42 million from the KWAP loan had been transferred into Najib’s personal bank accounts.
Shafee is refuting the Court of Appeal and High Court’s judgments that Najib was a “shadow director” of SRC, and hence, a director within the meaning of Section 402A of the Penal Code.
The senior lawyer noted that both courts had made an error in finding that although there was a lack of direct or specific evidence to show Najib gave instructions for any transfer of money, there was nevertheless sufficient evidence to infer that Najib had been involved and effected the misappropriation.
Shafee stated that the courts were also wrong in finding that Najib had used the RM42 million for his own use and personal benefit including political purposes, among others.
Najib on April 11 applied for an extension of time to no later than April 25 to file the appeal petition.
According to his supporting affidavit, Najib said the grounds of the judgement prepared by the judges of the Court of Appeal contained 176 volumes in total and the defence only received them on March 31.
"It is impossible for my defence team to study all the records of appeals and prepare a complete appeal petition in such a short time to address all issues raised by the Court of Appeal judges.
"The grounds of judgement should be scrutinised by examining the notes at both stages of the proceedings to ensure accuracy in the findings, inferences made and applicable laws," he said.
Najib was found guilty of abusing his power with regard to the RM4 billion loan given by KWAP between August 2011 and March 2012 to SRC. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million in default of five more years of imprisonment.
Najib was also convicted of three counts each of criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds being deposited into his accounts between Dec 26, 2014 and Feb 10, 2015. For each of these six offences, the former UMNO president and Pekan member of Parliament was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
As the court ordered the jail sentences to run concurrently, Najib will spend 12 years in jail.
He is appealing his conviction and sentences at the Federal Court after the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the High Court's verdict on Dec 8 last year.