KUALA LUMPUR: A British financial investigations expert told the High Court today there was no evidence suggesting that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had returned US$120 million from SRC International to Tanore Finance Corporation, a Singapore-registered firm.
Angela Barkhouse, an offshore asset recovery specialist, said she had not seen any documents to show that the sum was returned in 2013 to the firm controlled by Eric Tan Kim Loong, allegedly an associate of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho.
Barkhouse, a liquidator of SRC International and the second witness in the trial, said this in a cross-examination with counsel Harvinderjit Singh, who stood for Najib.
She testified in online proceedings from the Cayman Islands before judge Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.
Harvinderjit had suggested to Barkhouse that the US$120 million was part of the US$620 million that had been returned to Tanore through redemption.
Barkhouse stressed that she had not seen such evidence and his question was of a separate issue.
On May 7, 2021, SRC's new management initiated legal action against Najib, naming him as the first defendant, for alleged breach of trust and breach of statutory duty involving the RM4 billion Retirement Fund Incorporated loan to SRC.
SRC is seeking a declaration that Najib is liable for the loss of the proposed investment funds.
It wants Najib and Nik Faisal to return the US$120 million and US$2 million, respectively.
The trial continues tomorrow.
