KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): Prosecution witness Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli told the Sessions Court on Wednesday that former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng had told him privately that the undersea tunnel project would be given to his company under direct negotiation if he managed to arrange the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on it during the Chinese premier’s visit to Malaysia in 2011.
In replying to questions from deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Zarul said the conversation with Lim took place in March 2011, while he was driving Lim to a destination in the Kuala Lumpur city centre.
“Lim asked me to arrange for a programme signing during the Chinese premier’s visit to Malaysia, and he assured me that I (Zarul's company) will get the project via direct negotiation,” the witness replied, adding that he had told this to the investigating officer who recorded his statement.
The MOU signing was duly held in April 2011, between Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd and China Railway Construction Ltd, to form a joint-venture (JV) special vehicle to implement the project named Consortium Zenith BUCG (Beijing Urban Construction Group) Sdn Bhd. The signing was held in front of then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Putrajaya.
While the MOU was signed in 2011, the JV did not last, and BUCG dropped out later. The contract for the Penang undersea tunnel project was then awarded to Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd in 2013.
Zarul, who is a director of Consortium Zenith Construction, said when giving a statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), he also told the enforcement officers that Lim and his officers had tried to help Zarul get the project, after securing the MOU signing.
Zarul added that he gave the statement on Lim in 2018.
The 63-year-old Bagan Member of Parliament is on trial, charged with using his position as the then Penang chief minister to solicit a 10% cut in the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project’s profits from Zarul, in return for aiding the businessman’s company to secure the project.
Lim, who is also the DAP chairman and a former finance minister, is also accused of accepting RM3.3 million in kickbacks. A purported RM2 million paid on Aug 18, 2017, via businessman G Gnanaraja, is said to be part of the RM3.3 million.
Lim 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 — two property companies linked to the controversial undersea tunnel project.
Defence objects to Shah Alam’s Gnanaraja IO testifying
Earlier in proceedings before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi, Lim’s lawyers, led by Haijan Omar and including RSN Rayer and Tiara Katrina Fuad, questioned the prosecution’s attempt to call MACC investigating officer Ng Heng Jun, who was investigating Gnanaraja’s cheating case.
This follows Zarul having testified that when he gave his statement on Gnanaraja, Ng had apparently stopped Zarul from saying anything on Lim.
On account of this, Zarul claimed that there was a special investigation on Lim.
Haijan, Rayer, and Tiara questioned the prosecution’s motive of wanting to call Ng, as it is their case to try and impeach Zarul.
Furthermore, Lim’s defence team said it should be the recording officer who took down Zarul’s statement that is called, and not Ng, as Ng’s name was never mentioned at all in this trial.
However, Wan Shaharuddin said Ng’s name was brought up in this trial by Zarul during the impeachment proceedings.
The prosecution therefore had the right to defend its own prosecution witness, who had been impeached by the defence, the DPP added.
“An independent witness can be called to corroborate what Zarul had said,” Wan Shaharuddin said.
DPP Mahadi Abdul Jumaat also told the court that justice must also be done to the prosecution witness, and the benefit of the doubt should be given for the prosecution to explain and challenge the impeachment.
Azura fixed next Wednesday, Oct 9, to rule on calling Ng and continuing with the trial.
Zarul is being impeached as he had earlier claimed that the RM2 million passed to Gnanaraja was to be paid to then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, while the witness also claimed that another RM2 million was paid to Lim, which is the subject matter of this corruption trial.
Based on Zarul’s statement to the MACC on Gnanaraja’s case, the defence says the bribe of RM2 million was paid to Najib, but there was no RM2 million paid to Lim. Owing to Zarul's conflicting statements in Gnanaraja's case and his testimony in this trial, the defence is therefore seeking to impeach him.