Ex-KWAP CEO: Najib was my 'ultimate boss'

KUALA LUMPUR: The former chief executive officer (CEO) of Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP), which gave a RM4 billion loan to a RM2 startup company linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) today described how Datuk Seri Najib Razak had ‘influenced’ the decision.

Datuk Azian Mohd Noh said Najib was her “ultimate boss” when the loan was given out in 2011 and 2012.

She said Najib was then the minister of finance, and Minister of Finance Incorporated owned SRC International Sdn Bhd, which had applied for the loan.

Najib, she said, was also prime minister then.

“He was my ultimate boss. I cannot deny there is a certain amount of influence,” she said when cross-examined by Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh.

Azian who was the 38th witness to testify, was earlier questioned about a notation by Najib on a loan application by SRC International.

She had previously testified that a total of RM4 billion was given to SRC International in 2011 and 2012 following a letter from SRC International given to her by Najib’s former principal private secretary, the late Datuk Azlin Alias.

In the letter, Najib had written a note saying that he was agreeable to SRC International’s intention to borrow money.

However, Azian also agreed that the note was not a compulsion for the fund to give out the money.

Meanwhile, Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked Azian if she had allowed herself to make a wrong decision based on the hierarchal relationship with her boss.

To this, Azian said: “As CEO it is my fiduciary duty to ensure that my decision do not cause KWAP to suffer any losses.

Shafee: So as a responsible CEO, you would not have made a wrong decision because of that influence?

Azian: I cannot give you a yes or no answer. Whatever influence I received I will not do anything that breaches any law or any Act.

Najib, 66, is facing seven charges related to abuse of SRC International funds amounting to RM42 million.

The charges include three for criminal breach of trust, one for abuse of power over the funds and three for money-laundering charges over the same funds.

He faces up to 20 years’ jail and a fine for the offences.

The trial will continue after the lunch break.