KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 20): Lim Guan Eng’s lawyers informed the Sessions Court in his Penang undersea tunnel graft trial that Lim suspected there had been intimidation attempts by the authorities on other parties, which seemed to want to implicate the former Penang chief minister.
His counsel, Haijan Omar, informed Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi on Thursday (Sept 19) that Lim had lodged a police report last month on the possibility of intimidation done, after a businessman, who had earlier this year been charged at the Butterworth Sessions Court with criminal breach of trust, cheating, and misappropriation of RM13.4 million in company funds, had made a police report claiming he had been intimidated with the aim of persuading him to give false statements regarding Lim.
The businessman in question, Chan Eng Leong, 50, lodged a police report in June, claiming he had been arrested by the police commercial crime division sometime in August 2022, and claimed that he was charged that same year.
In his police report, Chan claimed that while he was waiting for his bailor to post bail, several people whom he did not know approached him and wanted him to cooperate in giving false statements against Lim.
“I was surprised and did not say anything. I only lodged this report now (in June 2024) after I was again charged, this time by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, as I suspected they wanted to make me a scapegoat in giving false evidence against Lim of possible criminal offence,” Chan said.
Chan was charged at the Butterworth Sessions Court in March, over six counts of criminal breach of trust, cheating, and misappropriating of Global Tobacco Manufacturer (International) Sdn Bhd funds, after he was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal earlier.
Meanwhile, Lim used Chan’s complaint to lodge a police report to claim intimidation, and suggested the possibility that the key witness in his Penang undersea tunnel trial, Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, who is testifying against him now, had possibly faced similar intimidation.
This follows the present impeachment proceedings being done against Zarul in the Penang undersea tunnel case.
Azura took note of the police report and proceeded with the trial.
Zarul, in continuing his testimony, reiterated that he was asked by the MACC to separate his complaint against Lim and that against businessman G Gnanaraja, who was charged with cheating him at the Shah Alam Sessions Court.
The witness also agreed that he had used the word “chocolate” as a code-word to denote purported bribe money which was to be paid, where a sum of RM4 million was given to Gnanaraja, of which RM2 million was paid to Lim.
He (Zarul) had testified that Lim had agreed to use Gnanaraja as an intermediary to receive the bribe money from his company.