DATUK Seri Najib Razak, once the most powerful man in Malaysia, was put under intense scrutiny over charges levelled against him during the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial at the High Court last week — by no less than Attorney-General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, the top public prosecutor in the land.

The cross-examination of Najib had tongues wagging as it marked a historic moment in the nation’s history: it was the first time that an A-G was grilling an ex-prime minister. Legal eagles also watched proceedings closely as Thomas — who is known as an expert on constitutional and civil law — was likely carrying out his first criminal cross-examination in several years, and on a former PM to boot.

Thomas was tasked with establishing the role of Najib — who also held the finance portfolio during his premiership — in setting up SRC,

approving loans that SRC obtained from Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) or KWAP and channelling RM42 million from the company into his personal bank accounts.

Many were expecting the A-G’s cross-examination of the former head of the executive, who led the country for 10 years, to be explosive, and it did not disappoint.

The courtroom exchanges between Thomas and Najib did, however, take time to boil over as the A-G had taken a soft approach to Najib, easing him into the drama that was to come.

Thomas began his cross-examination slightly after mid-morning on Tuesday by asking Najib about his early political career, which included his appointment as Pahang menteri besar and youth, culture and sports minister in the 1980s.

Najib objects to Thomas’ line of questioning

After a few cursory answers from Najib, Thomas then turned the heat on by asking him if he supported Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad over Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in the contest for the Umno presidency that triggered the 1988 constitutional crisis.

Najib, who was visibly irate at the question, objected to it and asked judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali whether the A-G’s question was relevant.

An amused Thomas retorted: “If your lawyers don’t object, you have to answer the question, please answer.”

Najib then answered in the affirmative.

Interestingly, Najib, who started testifying in his cross-examination in English, suddenly chose to speak in Bahasa Malaysia while the A-G continued to pose questions in English. Thomas has previously admitted to not being so fluent in the national language.

However, when Najib struggled to answer, he switched back to English.

Shortly after that exchange, Thomas asked him: “You were your own finance minister.”

Najib again objected to the question. “I object. There is a connotation there.”

“Please answer the question,” Thomas replied sternly.

“The prime minister has the power to appoint the finance minister. Yes, I was the finance minister,” Najib finally answered, this time in English.

‘I’m not bragging but…’

Another noteworthy moment was when Najib detailed his achievements as the finance minister, but denied he was being boastful. This was after Thomas had asked Najib why he had appointed himself the finance minister when he was already prime minister, president of Umno and chairman of the Barisan Nasional coalition.

“Because I felt I had the ability to improve our economy. If you look back at my time and the macro figures, there were vast improvements.

“In 2017, our economy grew 5.9%. During my tenure as finance minister, we grew stably. It was not spectacular, but we grew. The ringgit was stable during my time.

“The welfare of the rakyat ... many people enjoyed more benefits.

“I’m not bragging, but I have delivered as a finance minister.”

‘If we were all following the law, we wouldn’t be here’

Towards the end of the first day of his cross-examination, Najib had cut an irate figure again after relatively smooth proceedings.

Thomas had suggested to Najib that he had used his power to bulldoze KWAP into approving SRC’s loans.

Najib: Why are you saying I approved? It’s the law, and the law states that they (the KWAP investment panel) must approve it. Not me.

Thomas: If we were all following the law, we wouldn’t be here, Datuk Seri.

Najib: Yes, but you are the attorney-general, you should know the law!

Day two of Najib’s cross-examination was a tamer affair, barring the odd clash between the two. Thomas continued his light and casual approach while Najib’s go-to answer for all the questions was “I disagree”.

‘This was taxpayer’s money, but you did nothing’

As the proceedings neared the end of the day, Thomas pushed Najib again for answers.

Thomas had accused Najib — who was finance minister — of doing nothing once he had found out that KWAP’s RM4 billion loan — which was taxpayers’ money — had been squandered by SRC.

Thomas: Weren’t you personally shocked as to what happened to the money?

Najib: We appointed the SRC board to look into it.

Thomas: SRC is not on trial. You are on trial!

The exchange became more heated as Thomas drove home his point.

Thomas: This was not SRC International’s money, it was taxpayers’ money, but you did nothing to find out what happened.

Najib: SRC International was supposed to do it.

Thomas: So you did nothing ... the money is not going to come back from the heavens, Datuk Seri. I put it to you that you did nothing to investigate. This was taxpayers’ money, but you did nothing.

At this point, Najib raised his voice. “SRC was supposed to do it!”

The final act

Thomas went on the offensive in a climactic finish to what was a rather uneventful day — this time Thomas had asked a number of quick-fire questions, which left Najib visibly unnerved.

As the A-G began the onslaught, those sitting in the public gallery stirred from their stupor and leaned forward to listen to the exchanges, accompanied by the rapid click-clacking of laptop keyboards, as legal assistants and journalists alike scrambled to note the exchanges.

Thomas: I put it to you that the RM4 billion has totally disappeared.

Najib: No, we have to establish that the funds are in Switzerland and how much is there.

Thomas: I put it to you that all the money has been spent. It had to be written off because it was misspent.

Najib: No, no, I disagree.

Thomas: I put it to you that KWAP had no choice whether to approve or disagree with the loan. I put it to you that they had no choice.

Najib: I disagree.

Thomas: It’s not normal to rush Cabinet papers when documentation was incomplete.

Najib: I disagree.

Thomas: I put it to you that the Cabinet approved the Cabinet papers because you held two positions and you were chairing the meeting.

Najib: I disagree.

Thomas: You arranged this whole scheme so you could personally benefit.

Najib: No.

Thomas: I put it to you that you were ‘an emperor of the company’, acting how you saw fit to benefit your own self.

Najib: I disagree.

Thomas delivered the finishing blow via point-blank questions that riled Najib up.

Thomas: I conclude that these series of actions over the years were deliberate and premeditated and designed and planned as a corrupt act and that you benefited personally.

Najib: No, no, I totally and vehemently disagree!

The trial will continue later this week with appointed prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram taking over from Thomas in the cross-examination.

The prosecution was given some time to go through Najib’s 240-page witness statement before continuing proceedings on Wednesday.