Businessman Shamsuddin Hayroni told the Shah Alam High Court that the reason his statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in 2009 differed with his recent one on June 7, was that in his 2009 statement, he was protecting former Selangor MB Dr Mohd Khir Toyo upon the urging of the Sungai Panjang state assemblyperson himself.

"After I was contacted by the commission in 2009, Khir urged me many times not to implicate him (in my statement).

"He promised many times that the case was under control and would not involve me or him. At the time I was confident and believed him," the Ditamas director said when re-examined by lead prosecutor Abdul Wahab Mohamed after his cross-examination by the defence in the morning.

NONE Abdul Wahab was asking him to clarify the discrepancies between the two statements. Shamsuddin ( left ) admitted yesterday that such discrepancies existed but did not disclose why.

Specifically, Abdul Wahab asked why he had retracted his earlier statement that he sold the mansion situated on lots 8 and 10 off Jalan Suasa Section 7 Shah Alam to cut his losses.

Shamsuddin, in his latest statement to the MACC retracted his earlier one, saying that he sold the house at a loss because he had no option and feared that his business would be adversely affected.

Judge overrules defence objection

Lead defence counsel M Athimulan then interjected that Abdul Wahab's re-examination was going beyond the scope of the examination and if allowed to continue would go off tangent without an end to it.

The DPP, however, posited that he is just looking to provide an explanation on why there was a difference in Shamsuddin's statements to the MACC.

The judge allowed the prosecution's line of questioning though he also agreed to allow further re-examination of the witness by defence counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin afterwards.

Continuing his testimony, Shamsuddin then related how he decided to change his statement to the MACC on finding out that he, too, was being charged when at first he had thought that he was only a witness.

The contractor related how that even up to the point when he was served the letter informing him of his charge, Khir still gave him reassurances.

"Shamsuddin, don't worry, I can solve (the problem)," he claimed the former MB told him.

However, he decided to tell what he said is "the real truth" in his June 7 MACC statement after discussions with his close confidantes.

"As an ordinary person... I do not want to implicate anyone. But, I did not understand why I was charged. I talked to my family and my lawyers and decided to tell everything that happened (to the MACC)."

How the wheels turn

Shamsuddin was initially jointly charged with Khir under Section 165 of the Penal Code, for bribery involving a civil servant.

NONE However, when Khir's ( right ) corruption trial opened on June 6, Shamsuddin's charges were mysteriously dropped after which proceedings were postponed for two days.

On June 7, he had a new statement recorded by the anti-graft body, only to emerge as the key prosecution witness a day later on June 8, the second day of the trial.

Re-examining the witness later, Kamarul asked him if he knew that it is an offence under Section 30 of the Penal Code to give a false statement.

"It (my latest statement) is not false, just different," responded Shamsuddin.

Once more taking offence at Shamsuddin's allegations against his client, Kamarul suggested that the businessman decided to change his statement because he saw an opportunity to escape his charges.

"So you decided to lie?"

Steadfast, Shamsuddin answered simply: "No!"

The company director also denied any coercion on MACC's part in the sudden reversal of his statement.

"No coercion, (it was) voluntary," the Ditamas director maintained.

RM3.5 million too low, maintains witness