SRC’S CONSTITUTION SILENT ON DONATION TO POLITICAL PARTIES, COURT TOLD

KUALA LUMPUR: SRC International Sdn Bhd’s constitution is silent on whether the government-linked company can make donations to political parties, a former director told the High Court today.

“There is no specific provision to allow or bar the company from providing political donations,” Suboh Yassin said under cross-examination by counsel Hasnal Rezua Merican, representing Selangor Umno.

Hasnal: Do you know if political parties like Umno are allowed to receive donations from SRC International?

Suboh: (There is) no specific provision in SRC International’s memorandum and articles of association. It is open.

Suboh was testifying as the second witness in a suit brought by SRC International, Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Jendela Pinggiran Sdn Bhd against Umno.

The plaintiffs are seeking to recover the sum of RM19.5 million wrongly paid to the party’s headquarters and its Selangor chapter purportedly for corporate social responsibility activities between April and June 2015.

From those funds, Umno’s headquarters received RM16 million, while Selangor Umno was paid RM3.5 million.

Suboh, who also held the post of director at Gandingan Mentari and Jendela Pinggiran, both subsidiaries of SRC International, said it was for the parent company to determine if its funds could be donated to political parties.

“The onus is on the donor (SRC International) to determine if it is justifiable,” he said.

He said he did not know if there was a law governing political donations.

Re-examined by SRC International’s lawyer, Razlan Hadri Zulkifli, Suboh said former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, also a director of all three companies, was a proxy of then prime minister Najib Razak.

Najib, then also the finance minister, was in that capacity the sole shareholder of SRC International, a company then parked under the Minister of Finance Incorporated.

He was also adviser emeritus of SRC International. In that capacity, all major decisions required Najib’s consent and agreement, and it was Nik Faisal’s responsibility to meet and communicate Najib’s instructions to the board.

Suboh said Najib did not consult with the board of directors and dispensed with protocols when exercising his authority in the company.

He also said that although SRC International had budgeted RM250 million for CSR purposes, no meaningful discussion was held at board level on the matter.

He maintained that he signed four blank cheques as director of Jendela Pinggiran before a total of RM19.5 million was disbursed to Umno.

“Nik Faisal, who was the other signatory to the cheques, never told me that Umno was the recipient of the funds,” he said.

However, during cross-examination by lawyer Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman, appearing for Umno headquarters, Suboh said Nik Faisal briefed him of where the money was being channelled to.

Shahrul then pointed out the discrepancy in Suboh’s testimony to Justice Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan, and said that Suboh’s credibility as a witness was an issue because of his conflicting testimonies.

In their opening statement on Monday, the plaintiffs said Umno received money from a “gargantuan slush fund” worth RM4 billion created from funds diverted and embezzled from SRC International’s subsidiaries.

Out of the RM4 billion fund, which originated from the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP), RM3.6 billion was transferred between 2011 and 2012 to a subsidiary of SRC International incorporated in the British Virgin Islands for investments in the energy and resources sector.

The remaining RM400 million was retained by SRC International in Malaysia for working capital requirements, from which RM43.96 million was sent to Gandingan Mentari and on to Jendela Pinggiran through a layering process.

The hearing continues.

2025-01-23T11:08:00Z