KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 27): Businessman Datuk Seri G Gnanaraja on Wednesday denied that he had made a deal with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to have his cheating and money laundering charges dropped, in exchange for him testifying in court to implicate Lim Guan Eng in a graft case related to the Penang undersea tunnel project.
Gnanaraja's denial came as he was cross-examined at the Sessions Court by Lim’s counsel, RSN Rayer, who pointed out that Gnanaraja had been charged with money laundering and cheating offences involving a sum of RM19 million he received from Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli.
Lead prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Laden, also posed a similar question to Gnanaraja at the end of the prosecution’s examination-in-chief, specifically asking if he was lying in his testimony.
“I did not lie [in this trial]. If I lie, why would I say Lim took two bags [containing RM1 million each],” Gnanaraja said. He also denied that he harboured any ill will towards the former Penang chief minister.
Earlier, Gnanaraja had provided a detailed account of how the RM2 million in cash was given to Lim between Aug 20 and Aug 29, 2017.
Regarding the charges involving the RM19 million sum, Gnanaraja clarified that he did not cheat Zarul Ahmad, as alleged in the charges he faced at the Shah Alam court. He described the sum as a pinjaman mesra or soft loan given to him by Zarul Ahmad. Gnanaraja also disagreed with Wan Shaharuddin when asked if Zarul Ahmad had previously testified that the RM19 million was given to Gnanaraja to save Zarul Ahmad from facing money laundering charges himself.
“This is not true and this is my testimony that it was a pinjaman mesra,” he said.
Gnanaraja was first charged at the Shah Alam Sessions Court in 2019. He was later acquitted of those charges after he pleaded guilty to an alternative, lesser charge — for an offence under the Companies Act 2016 for using his position as a director to obtain a personal gain — and paid a RM230,000 fine.
The businessman stated that the late Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram had represented him in the Shah Alam case, while Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah acted as a watching brief for him in the current trial involving Lim.
Lawyer questions Gnanaraja's title and health
At a previous hearing earlier on Aug 19, Gnanaraja had said he was too terrified and traumatised to testify following an attack at his Petaling Jaya home on Aug 6. Rayer, who questioned him about his health then, had pointed out that Gnanaraja appeared to be fine with his wife on Aug 14 when they attended a public function for a Rajnikanth movie show that morning. Nevertheless, Gnanaraja had maintained that he still felt traumatised and the hearing was adjourned shortly after that.
During the resumption of proceedings earlier on Wednesday, Gnanaraja said he was feeling feverish and had a migraine, but told Rayer during cross-examination that he could continue testifying.
Rayer then questioned the businessman about his "Datuk Seri" title, which Gnanaraja stated in court had been reinstated by the Sultan of Pahang. Rayer pointed out, however, that a check with the Pahang royal household had shown that the reinstatement of the title was not registered. The title was first revoked when he was slapped with money laundering charges in 2019.
In response, Gnanaraja said his title was reinstated in 2019 via a letter issued by the Pahang state secretary, Datuk Seri Dr Sallehuddin Ishak, while his acquittal came in December 2020. He explained that he had not yet presented the court order of his acquittal to the Sultan of Pahang, which may have resulted in the reinstatement of the title not being officially recorded.
“The Sultan of Pahang is presently in Jakarta, and I would present the acquittal letter on his return. You can verify this with my lawyer [Shafee],” he said, adding that he had anticipated this issue would be raised by the defence.
When Rayer questioned why he had yet to inform the Sultan of Pahang of his acquittal, even when it has been almost five years since his 2020 acquittal, Gnanaraja explained that his previous lawyer, the late Sri Ram, who also handled the 1Malaysia Development Bhd cases against Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was in charge of his Shah Alam case. Sri Ram passed away in January 2023.
“Furthermore, Pahang has a slight change in its royal household office and was renamed the Pahang Sultanate Council. I received the state title from the previous ruler [Sultan Ahmad Shah] and hence, I need to appear and present myself to the present sultan,” he said.
Gnanaraja maintained that he could still be addressed as “Datuk Seri”.
The hearing for Lim’s graft trial is set to continue on Thursday before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi.