Mahdzir: I had no doubts Rosmah was helping Jepak
ROSMAH TRIAL | Former education minister Mahdzir Khalid told the Kuala Lumpur High Court he had no doubts that Rosmah Mansor was helping Jepak Holding Sdn Bhd's bid to win a solar energy project.
During the examination-in-chief today, he said he was contacted by Rosmah on Dec 22, 2016 on the matter...
ROSMAH TRIAL | Former education minister Mahdzir Khalid told the Kuala Lumpur High Court he had no doubts that Rosmah Mansor was helping Jepak Holding Sdn Bhd's bid to win a solar energy project.
During the examination-in-chief today, he said he was contacted by Rosmah on Dec 22, 2016 on the matter.
"She said she doesn't know Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah. She said she was only helping 'Cikgu Aazmey'. She told me to comply with the instructions from (then prime minister) Najib (Abdul Razak).
"I only replied 'yes, yes, datin seri'. I had no doubts that Rosmah is helping Jepak," added Mahdzir (above).
Rayyan is a partner to Saidi Abang Samsudin, Jepak's managing director. "Cikgu Aazmey" is believed to refer to Ahmad Aazmey Abu Talib, the Pekan Umno secretary.
The contract in question involved Jepak providing solar power solutions for 369 schools in Sarawak. The contract was valued at RM1.25 billion.
Mahdzir also testified that he had amended the letter of award to Jepak after lobbying by Rosmah's then aide Rizal Mansor.
He testified that in November 2016, Saidi and Rayyan approached him because they were unhappy with the original letter of award, which contained a stipulation that the Education Ministry can terminate Jepak's works for schools that had been connected to grid power line.
At one point, either Saidi or Rayyan had threatened to escalate their objections to Najib and called Rizal (below), said Mahdzir.
"They passed the phone to me. Rizal introduced himself. I recognised that voice. He more or less told me to remove that stipulation and don't complicate matters.
"Rizal said ma'am was aware of this matter. I knew he was talking about Rosmah," said Mahdzir.
By July 2017, according to Mahdzir, he was approached by Saidi who was having trouble securing an interim claim from the Finance Ministry due to incomplete documents.
Mahdzir said he could not help Saidi and was paid a visit by Rizal several days later, who came up with a solution.
"He asked me to help Jepak secure the payment. I replied that this matter should be brought up with the Finance Ministry. (Rizal) requested that I write to Najib, seeking an exemption for Jepak.
"I then asked my officer to prepare the letter," he said.
Rosmah is currently on trial with soliciting RM187.5 million from Jepak in 2016 to secure the project and accepting RM1.5 million from Saidi in 1.5 million for the same.
Last week, Mahdzir had told the court that Rosmah had urged him to expedite the award of the contract to "Cikgu Aazmey's solar project".
He also testified that he had advised Najib against awarding the contract to Jepak, but the then prime minister insisted otherwise.
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