I owe Guan Eng, no reason to concoct evidence - company exec
A key prosecution witness claimed he is in such gratitude to Lim Guan Eng that the former would never make up testimony against the former Penang chief minister.
Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) senior executive director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli told the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today that this is because he was awarded the Penang Undersea Tunnel Project due to Lim...
A key prosecution witness has claimed that he is in such gratitude to Lim Guan Eng that the former would never make up testimony against the ex-Penang chief minister.
Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) senior executive director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli told the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today that this is because he was awarded the Penang Undersea Tunnel Project due to Lim.
The 23rd prosecution witness was responding during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
Zarul (above) claimed that his gratitude was due to his company allegedly netting the highest rating among potential contractors during the tender process for the mega project.
Wan Shaharuddin: In this case, you were promised, and in the end, you got the project. Do you have any reason to concoct testimony against Lim?
Zarul: I have no intent to make up (evidence) as I owe gratitude to Lim. If possible, I did not want in any way to implicate Lim in this case.
Lim is on trial for alleged corruption linked to the RM6.3 billion mega project.
Previously, Zarul testified that back in 2011 he was shocked when Lim asked for 10 percent of future profit from the project in return for the witness’ company to be awarded the said project.
The witness also testified that Lim received part of the bribes with a smile, and that it was the Malay spirit that helped him overcome problems that cropped up following the related MACC probe against him.
Dummy cheques
During proceedings before trial judge Azura Alwi, Zarul testified to confirm that dummy cheques were used to facilitate the purported bribe payments to Lim.
The witness claimed that this method was done in order to prevent the accused’s name from appearing in the financial transaction.
Previously, former Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd (CZBSB) senior vice-president Azli Adam testified that invoices and payment vouchers were falsified to withdraw company money as bribes to Lim.
Zarul also claimed that following his release from an 11-day MACC remand in January 2018, Lim had allegedly directed him to speak to the media regarding his time in custody.
“I got an order from Lim to give statements to the press to make it seem as though I was forced to give a statement to the MACC,” the witness claimed.
A3-sized envelope
Later during proceedings, Zarul however claimed he made a mistake in a previous testimony regarding the size of the envelope used to put in the money for Lim as bribes.
The witness claimed that instead of an A4-sized envelope, he had actually used an A3-sized envelope to put in the cash bribes.
Previously, Zarul testified that he used an A4-sized envelope to put in the alleged bribe of RM100,000 to be given to the accused in 2013.
The witness today claimed that he realised his mistake following an exchange with his secretary last week.
Wan Shaharuddin: When did you ask (your secretary)?
Zarul: Last week.
Wan Shaharuddin: Why did you ask?
Zarul: I needed an envelope to put some documents in, at that time I asked my secretary to bring an envelope, she said it was A4-sized. When I tried to put in the documents I could not. I told her that the A4 size was not enough, then she said if I wanted a bigger one, then go for A3. Then I realised my mistake here (in previous testimony in court).
At the end of proceedings today, Lim’s lead defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo informed the court that they would apply to examine Zarul’s handphone to check WhatsApp messages.
Wan Shaharuddin replied they would arrange with the case’s investigating officer to facilitate the defence’s examination of the device.
The trial will resume on Aug 4 and 5, with the accused’s defence team set to cross-examine Zarul.
2 charges against Lim
The ongoing trial concerns graft charges against Lim.
One charge, framed under Section 16(A)(a) and Section 23 of the MACC Act, accuses him of using his position as then Penang chief minister for the gratification of RM3.3 million as inducement for helping a company belonging to Zarul to secure the island state's RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project.
The offence was allegedly perpetrated at the Penang Chief Minister's Office, 28th Floor at Komtar in George Town, Penang, between January 2011 and August 2017.
Under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act, the offence is punishable with imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The second charge, also under Section 16(A)(a), states that Lim, in his capacity as the Penang chief minister then, solicited from Zarul bribes amounting to 10 percent of the profits to be earned by the company as gratification for helping the company secure the project.
The offence was allegedly committed near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur, between 12.30am and 2am in March 2011.
The charge, framed under Section 16 of the MACC Act, provides for imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
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