“All I do is defuse political threats and get rid of political liabilities”
DATUK HABIBUL RAHMAN KADIR SHAH POLITICAL ANALYST AND STRATEGIST IN DATUK SERI NAJIB RAZAK’S ADMINISTRATION
AFORMER aide of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was often referred to as a mysterious figure in the previous administration, yesterday shed some light on how he collected political intelligence for the then government.
Datuk Habibul Rahman Kadir Shah revealed that he was paid to gather such information for “Barisan Nasional’s political benefit”.
The 62-year-old accountant said this when he was asked about a RM2.5 million cheque he received from Najib in 2015.
“It was reimbursement for the political operations I had done.”
Habibul explained the kind of political defence operations he did for the then government.
“In politics, we must have certain foresight of what is going to happen, and for that, we must have the political intelligence.
“Nobody gives you such information for free.
“If you need to execute a strategy, you must be able to get the
relevant people to come forward,” he said.
Asked what kind of operations he conducted, Habibul said: “I don’t think I would like to answer this question.
“It is not black ops, but special ops. There’s nothing illegal. All I do is defuse political threats and get rid of political liabilities.
“It is like chess. You must be able to predict your opponent’s next move.”
Earlier, when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, Habibul said he collected the cheque personally from Najib’s official residence in Putrajaya.
Habibul said he told Najib to write the cheque to his lawyer’s firm, Zulkarnain & Co. SAIFUDDIN: Why was the payment of RM2.5 million made to you? HABIBUL: It was reimbursement for political operations. SAIFUDDIN: Who told Najib to write the cheque under Zulkarnain & Co? HABIBUL: I did.
SAIFUDDIN: What happened after the cheque was handed over to the law firm?
HABIBUL: I told my lawyer to prepare some cheques under my wife and children’s names. The rest of the money was left in the firm’s account for political ops.
Habibul’s lawyer, Ashraf Abdul Razak, last week testified that his client had given him the RM2.5 million to be banked into the law firm’s account.
He detailed how Habibul had given him the cheque and asked for money to be disbursed to the latter’s wife and children over a period.
He said Habibul had told him that the RM2.5 million was payment for a defence contract. However, Habibul yesterday denied this when crossed-examined by Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
SHAFEE: You were not paid this money as a reward for a defence contract? HABIBUL: Definitely not.
Shafee asked Habibul at length about his role as a political analyst and strategist in Najib’s administration.
On whether he asked Najib where the RM2.5 million came from, Habibul said he did not since he believed it was a donation.
He said it was common knowledge that everybody wanted to give political donations to a serving prime minister as they wanted to establish goodwill with the No.1 leader of the country.
“I joined Umno in 1984 and this is how it operates, and all presidents controlled the party’s funds,” he said.
When asked how he accounted for the money spent on his intelligence operations to Najib, he said he did it personally as “the amount is not much”.
“It’s for intel work and not ground ops… a very nominal sum is involved.”
Habibul said he was an accountant and had a company called HKS Consultants.
He said his specialisation included mergers, acquisitions and restructuring of businesses.
Habibul, who chose to testify in English, was the 23rd prosecution witness in the trial which entered the 11th day.
Najib is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of power abuse over funds amounting to RM42 million linked to SRC International Sdn Bhd. He is also facing three money laundering charges over the same funds.
He faces up to 20 years’ jail and fine for the offences.
In politics, we must have certain foresight of what is going to happen, and for that, we must have the political intelligence. DATUK HABIBUL RAHMAN KADIR SHAH Former aide of
Datuk Seri Najib Razak