Former prime minister Najib Razak had no hand in any conspiracy to defraud SRC International Sdn Bhd, his lawyer told the High Court here today.
In closing submissions at the end of a civil suit brought by the company, Farhan Shafee said the scheme, if it ever existed, was between fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, and former SRC CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
Farhan said the company’s claim of a “grand conspiracy” involving Najib was “fiction”, contending that the blame lay instead with corporate governance failures and the actions of other individuals unknown to him.
Farhan was submitting in Najib’s defence to a US$1.18 billion civil suit brought against him and Nik Faisal, who remains at large, for allegedly misappropriating company property and dishonestly conspiring to convert it to their own use.
He submitted that Low had pursued his own agenda by exploiting SRC and 1MDB for personal gain, and alleged that Nik Faisal acted as Low’s agent within the company.
“In law, one can only be liable for conspiracy if part of an agreement. One cannot be dragged in just because one was the figurehead of the company.
“We urge the court not to let the enormity of the fraud perpetrated by others create a scapegoat liability for Najib with absent proof,” he said.
Farhan asserted that Low and Nik Faisal were aided by directors who had “clear self-interest to shift blame upwards”.
“The court should view their belated ‘it was Najib’s conspiracy’ narrative with scepticism, especially since they originally were sued by SRC for the same loss and only later were dropped as defendants,” he said.
The suit originally included former SRC chairman Ismee Ismail, as well as former directors Suboh Yasin, Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Azhar Osman Khairuddin and Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar, as co-defendants.
SRC later dropped the case against them. However, they were added as third parties by Najib.
The hearing before Justice Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin will continue on Sept 24.
