KUALA LUMPUR: A witness told the Sessions Court here that Lim Guan Eng would award him a project for building main roads and an undersea tunnel in Penang through direct negotiations if he could arrange a signing ceremony for an MoU between the state government and a company from China.
Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, 65, said the former Penang chief minister told him he would be awarded the project if the signing ceremony was witnessed by China’s Premier.
"Lim informed me about the matter while I was driving him home in early March 2011.
"Additionally, in my statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding the investigation into the G. Gnanaraja case, I mentioned the roles of YB Lim and his officials in helping me secure the project,” he said in court on Wednesday (Oct 2).
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He said this during cross-examination by DPP Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin during proceedings to challenge his credibility over apparently contradictory statements in court regarding Gnanaraja’s fraud case involving RM19mil related to the undersea tunnel project.
On March 24, 2022, Zarul Ahmad had told the court that Lim was pleased when the signing ceremony between the state government and Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) on the mega project worth RM6.34bil was witnessed by the prime ministers of Malaysia and China, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Wen Jiabao respectively.
Zarul Ahmad stated that he received a phone call from Lim in 2011, informing him that Wen Jiabao, then prime minister of China, and Datuk Seri Najib Razak, then prime minister of Malaysia, would attend the MoU signing ceremony in Putrajaya on April 28 that year, with Lim also attending.
When asked by Wan Shaharuddin whether he mentioned the 10% profit share as allegedly requested by Lim when testifying before the MACC, Zarul Ahmad replied: "No, I was instructed to keep the information regarding the payment for the Gnanaraja case separate from that of the YB Lim Guan Eng case."
He also agreed with the DPP’s question that an MACC investigating officer had informed him about a special investigation into a corruption case involving Lim, and that he had provided detailed information to the graft buster regarding the case.
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Wan Shaharuddin: In your statement in the investigation into the Gnanaraja case, did you ever mention that the money was never given directly to Lim Guan Eng?
Zarul Ahmad: No.
Earlier, Wan Shaharuddin told the court that the prosecution intended to summon MACC investigating officer Ng Weng Jun, who conducted the probe of the Gnanaraja case, to corroborate Zarul Ahmad’s testimony in the proceedings.
"The witness is relevant because Zarul Ahmad mentioned Ng’s name during the proceedings challenging his credibility.
"If the investigating officer is summoned, he can clarify whether or not he instructed Zarul Ahmad to provide separate statements for the Gnanaraja and Lim Guan Eng cases,” he said.
However, Lim’s lawyer RSN Rayer objected to the application, stating that Ng was not the investigating officer who took Zarul Ahmad’s statement in the Gnanaraja investigation.
Judge Azura Alwi fixed Oct 9 to decide on the application and to resume the proceedings challenging the credibility of the witness.
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According to the first amended charge, Lim, 63, is alleged of using his position as chief minister of Penang at the time to receive bribes amounting to RM3.3mil by helping a company owned by Zarul Ahmad to be appointed to implement a highway and undersea tunnel project in Penang worth RM6,341,383,702.
Lim is alleged to have committed the act between January 2011 and August 2017 at the Penang Chief Minister’s Office.
For the second amended charge, Lim is alleged to have sought a bribe of 10% of the profits from Zarul Ahmad as an inducement to help the businessman’s company get appointed for the same project.
Lim allegedly committed the act near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here between 12.30am and 2am, sometime in March 2011.
He is also facing two charges of causing two lots of land owned by the Penang government worth RM208.8mil to be disposed of to companies allegedly linked to the undersea tunnel project.
The offence was allegedly committed at the Penang State Land and Mines Office, Komtar on February 17, 2015 and March 22, 2017. – Bernama
