KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): The Sessions Court on Thursday granted leave (permission) to the defence in Lim Guan Eng’s undersea tunnel trial to initiate impeachment proceedings on key witness Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, senior director of Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB).
Judge Azura Alwi also directed the prosecution to hand over to court Zarul Ahmad’s full recorded statement for the Shah Alam case involving businessman G Gnanaraja by Nov 17.
Following that, the court would decide on the next hearing on Jan 16, 2024, after looking at Zarul Ahmad’s statement recorded in the Shah Alam trial on whether there is discrepancy before making a decision on whether to go-ahead with impeaching Zarul Ahmad.
Judge Azura decided the matter after earlier hearing submissions from Gobind Singh Deo (representing Lim) and deputy public prosecutors Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Laden, Ahmad Akram Gharib and Mahadi Abdul Jumaat on the defence's request to initiate the impeachment proceeding on Zarul Ahmad.
Gobind told the court that the defence only wanted the Shah Alam statement recorded from Zarul Ahmad and not the statement recorded from him in the undersea tunnel case in the Kuala Lumpur trial.
Zarul Ahmad was the complainant in Gnanaraja’s case, with Gnanaraja charged with three counts of cheating Zarul Ahmad of a sum of RM19 million. In that case, it was alleged that Zarul Ahmad had paid a sum of RM2 million via CZCSB’s cheque — cashed out of the RM19 million — to Gnanaraja on Aug 17, 2017.
The sum — as some of the witnesses had testified in the Shah Alam case — was to be paid to prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to help close the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s probe on the company with regards to the project.
However, in Zarul Ahmad’s testimony in Lim’s undersea tunnel trial last month, he said on that day an actual sum of RM4 million was paid to Gnanaraja, where he retrieved RM2 million from his own safe to be paid to Najib, while the RM2 million from the CZCSB cheque was given to Lim.
In the Shah Alam case, while Gnanaraja was charged with cheating, he pleaded guilty last year, and was fined RM230,000 to an alternative charge under the Companies Act 2016.
When cross-examined by Gobind, Zarul Ahmad — the key witness in the case — said this happened and that he had rectified his earlier statement.
Following this conflicting evidence, Gobind pushed the court to impeach Zarul Ahmad and for the defence to be furnished with statements from Shah Alam. Originally, the defence wanted the Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur recorded statements of Zarul Ahmad, but Gobind informed the court on Thursday that they are dropping their application to have the Kuala Lumpur statement.
Lim, 62, Member of Parliament for Bagan, is accused of using his position as then Penang chief minister to solicit a 10% cut in the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project’s profits from Zarul Ahmad, in return for aiding the businessman’s company to secure the project.
Lim, who is also DAP chairman, is accused of accepting RM3.3 million in kickbacks from Zarul Ahmad. Part of the RM2 million in question concerns part of the RM3.3 million.
He also faces two counts of dishonest misappropriation of property in releasing two plots of state-owned land, cumulatively worth RM208.75 million, to Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd and Zenith Urban Development Sdn Bhd — two property companies linked to the controversial undersea tunnel project.