PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim today denied in the Kuala Lumpur High Court that he or his intermediaries received a total of RM60 million from gaming firm Magnum Corporation Bhd.

He was under cross-examination by senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah representing Senator S Nallakaruppan, when the counsel named the intermediaries as Anwar's wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, his stepbrother Sukma Darmawan Saasmitadja, Senator Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor, and Azmin Ali's wife Shamsidar Taharin.

Shafee alleged the drop off points for installments of the money were Anwar’s former Bukit Damansara home, the deputy prime minister's official residence at Jalan Damansara, and the tennis court at Tivoli Villa apartments.

"These are all vicious lies and untrue," said Anwar.

He was testifying in his RM100 million defamation suit against Nallakaruppan ( photo ), the Malaysian United Indian Party (MUIP) president, for the remark made that the RM60 million was allegedly given to Anwar when he was deputy prime minister and finance minister.

The claim was made when Anwar was contesting for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in the 2008 general elections.

Following that, Anwar who eventually won the seat, filed the suit against Nallakaruppan.

Earlier, Shafee asked the politician to describe his relationship with Nallakaruppan, to which Anwar replied the businessman was an acquaintance.

Anwar denied that Nallakaruppan was his former tennis partner, saying the MUIP president does not know how to play tennis.

When Shafee asked about Shamsidar and his relationship with her, the former opposition leader replied that she was Azmin's wife and protested the line of questioning by the lawyer in bringing up the issue, saying there is no civility in bringing up the matter.

The senior lawyer also asked Anwar whether he knew one P K Lim, a director of Magnum and Multi Purpose Holding Group, to which the politician replied that he knows Lim and used to play tennis with him at Bangsar.

However, the PKR de-facto leader denied receiving any money from Lim.

'Nalla upset over Ijok'

There was a light moment when Shafee alleged Lim had handed RM2 million to Anwar in a briefcase at his former home in Bukit Damansara, to which he replied, “Are you sure it is not RM2.6 billion?”.

Anwar was referring to the 'donation' deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's accounts, which the prime minister had denied was for personal gain.

Shafee said it could be RM2.6 million, to which Anwar denied receiving any such amount.

The lawyer suggested that the former deputy prime minister had received the monies during the 1995 Umno party elections or the general elections.

Anwar told the court that Nalla had made the allegation because the MUIP president was upset about not being nominated to contest for the Ijok state seat.

"Nalla was very upset he was not selected and he was further upset for not getting my support in his contest for the vice-presidency in PKR.

"In fact, Nalla did not receive a single nomination from members," he told the court when Shafee quizzed the witness if Nalla received the second highest votes among the vice-presidential candidates.

Anwar also testified in court to questions from his lawyer N Surendran that when he was deputy prime minister, he had at least eight Special Action Unit officers as security detail to look after his safety.

"They followed me everywhere when I attended official functions, while in unofficial functions, I have at least five personnel looking after me," he said.

While Shafee, at the last session, tried to paint Anwar as a convicted person and of bad character since 1998, Surendran's questions in the afternoon showed a different picture as a person who is highly respected and of good standing among the international community.

Anwar acknowledged that he was the first Malaysian to meet Pope Francis, and that he had also met former South African president Nelson Mandela, and Nobel prizewinner and former Czech Republic president Vaclac Havel.

He also admitted despite his conviction for abuse of power in 1999, the Al Barakah bank - one of the largest banks in the Middle East - sees it fit to appoint him as a director and that he was invited as a visiting lecturer at prestigious universities such as Oxford, Harvard, and John Hopkins.

"All these show that the charge is due to political persecution on me," he said, adding the UN also issued a statement recognising his conviction in Sodomy II as another form of persecution and recognised him as a prisoner of conscience.

The hearing before Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab continues on March 21 with another new witness.