KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court will examine the statement of a key prosecution witness to see if there is any discrepancy relating to a corruption case involving former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin informed the court that the prosecution had submitted the relevant documents to the court on Friday (Nov 17) morning.
Judge Azura Alwi then said she needed time to go through the 108-page statement of Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli recorded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in its investigation into a cheating case in Shah Alam involving him and a businessman.
Lim's lead counsel Gobind Singh Deo told the court that the defence wanted a copy of Zarul Ahmad's witness statement.
Azura said she would first study the document and decide if there are any inconsistencies between Zarul Ahmad's statements in Shah Alam and in this court.
She said if inconsistencies are found, she would hand over the document to the defence for impeachment proceedings.
She then set Jan 9, 2024, to decide on the matter.
The document is intended for the defence, which was previously allowed to impeach Zarul Ahmad's credibility for making conflicting statements in this court and a previous case.
The document had been produced in a separate trial in Shah Alam in 2019, where businessman G. Gnanaraja was charged with cheating Zarul Ahmad of RM19mil as an inducement to help the latter drop money laundering charges.
Zarul Ahmad had earlier revealed to this court that RM2mil was given to Lim via a cheque for the Penang undersea tunnel and road construction project, while another RM2mil in cash had been given to Gnanaraja for it to be delivered to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop MACC's investigation into his company.
However, Gobind argued that Zarul Ahmad had previously provided a statement at the Shah Alam Sessions Court that the RM2mil was meant for Najib, to which the prosecution stated that Zarul Ahmad had later "rectified" his statement to MACC in connection with the Shah Alam case.
Lim, 62, is facing an amended charge of using his position as then-Penang chief minister to solicit RM3.3mil in bribes as an inducement to assist Zarul Ahmad in securing the undersea tunnel project worth RM6,341,383,702.
Lim allegedly committed the offence at the Penang Chief Minister's Office, Level 28, Komtar, George Town, between January 2011 and August 2017.
In the second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a bribe of 10% of the profit from the company as gratification to secure the project.
The offence was allegedly committed near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here in March 2011.
Lim, who is former DAP secretary-general, faces two further charges of causing two plots of land worth RM208.8mil, belonging to the Penang government, to be disposed of to two companies linked to the state's undersea tunnel project.
