NAJIB ALLOWING SRC BOSS TO FLEE BEFORE INTERPOL ARREST NOTICE IS ISSUED? TRAVEL BAN ON NIK FAISAL LIFTED AS SWISS AG PREPARES TO ANNOUNCE CHARGES

What to expect Malaysia is now the wild wild west 

NAJIB ALLOWING SRC BOSS TO FLEE BEFORE INTERPOL ARREST NOTICE IS ISSUED? TRAVEL BAN ON NIK FAISAL LIFTED AS SWISS AG PREPARES TO ANNOUNCE CHARGES

The travel restriction on SRC International Sdn Bhd managing director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil appears to have been lifted, according to the Immigration Department’s website.

He was reportedly blacklisted by the Immigration Department on July 22, 2015 following claims by the Wall Street Journal that about US$700 million made its way into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s bank accounts.

ccording to attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, Najib was said to be unaware that SRC International transferred money into his accounts in 2014 and 2015.

WSJ had also claimed that Nik Faisal held power of attorney over the prime minister’s personal bank accounts.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in August 2015 named him as a person wanted for questioning, along with another SRC director, Suboh Md Yassin and businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.

Renewed driving licence

By December that year, the MACC managed to record statements from Jho Low and Suboh but Nik Faisal has remained elusive.

Public records showed that Nik Faisal renewed his driving licence in August last year.

Mohamed Apandi in January last year cleared Najib of wrongdoing on the ground that the money was a “donation” from a member of the Saudi Arabia royal family.
However, the case has proceeded in several other jurisdictions including the US, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered through the financial system in those countries.

The US Department of Justice believed the money originated from 1MDB while Swiss authorities believed around US$4 billion were misappropriated from the state fund and associates.

Najib had denied wrongdoing or taking public funds or personal gains.

Nik Faisal’s name had also cropped up in prosecution cases related to the 1MDB scandal in Singapore.

In the case against former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei, who was charged for facilitating money laundering, it was revealed that Nik Faisal approved the transfer of US$11.95 million from SRC International to a company owned by Tan Kim Loong, an alias used by Jho Low.

– M’kini