Najib's 'shocked reaction' over RM42mil was a mere drama, court told

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak's "shocked reaction" upon finding out that RM42mil was in his personal bank account was described as a mere "drama", the High Court heard.

Ad hoc prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram said this was because the former premier never made a police report or sued the bank regarding the suspicious transactions.

He submitted that Najib should have taken action if somebody had deposited money into his account unexpectedly.

The court had earlier heard testimonies during the trial from witnesses who said Najib was shocked upon finding out some funds were deposited unknowingly into his personal bank accounts.

Sithambaram said this during submissions in the SRC International trial, where Najib is accused of misappropriating RM42mil from the company's funds.

He further submitted that the accused should have sued the bank for unlawful deposit of the said sum as it may well meant that his account was used for money laundering.

"The shock that the accused felt should have translated into a police report being lodged to show his outrage of unauthorised monies being paid into his account.

"Today, amazingly, My Lord, a lot of drama happened in this court. But when the money went into the accounts, there was no action taken, all were quite happy until the trial started," he said here on Tuesday (Oct 22).

Sithambaram contended that Najib's failure to take those steps showed that his present cry of innocence cannot be true.

Najib is facing seven charges, of which three are for criminal breach of trust, one for abuse of power and three for money laundering involving SRC funds totalling RM42mil.

The prosecution trial spanned over 57 days with 57 witnesses called to testify.

The submission resumes before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali on Wednesday (Oct 23).