KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): A managing director of a construction company told the High Court here that he had channelled a total of RM19.5 million in political contributions to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in exchange for assistance in securing a lucrative road project under the Jana Wibawa programme.

Shahradzi Shamsuddin, managing director of Mamfor Sdn Bhd, testified on Monday that the payments were made after he was led to believe that financial support for the party was necessary for the "continuity and ease" of his business dealings, specifically regarding the Lingkaran Pulau Indah Phase 3 project.

Shahradzi provided the payments, which he described as donation to Bersatu, following requests by KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Azman Yusoff, the court heard.

In this trial, Muhyiddin, who turns 79 this year, is facing seven charges: four counts of abuse of power involving RM225.3 million in alleged gratification and three counts of money laundering involving RM200 million. He is accused of receiving bribes from Azman, and three companies — including Mamfor — allegedly for Bersatu's benefit.

The project, eventually valued at RM605.2 million, was awarded to Sutracom Sdn Bhd (SSB), a company owned by Shahradzi’s brother, in October 2022.

According to Shahradzi’s witness statement in court at former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s graft trial, Shahradzi explained how he came to make the payments. He said he reached out to a mutual acquaintance of his and Muhyiddin’s, one Datuk Ayob Ali.

“Around December 2020, I requested assistance from Datuk Ayob to hand over a letter from Sutracom Sdn Bhd (SSB), a company owned by my brother Shahrin, to apply for the construction of the Pulau Indah Ring Road Phase 3 via direct negotiation to Muhyiddin,” he said.

It was on this initial proposal that Muhyiddin had initialled and noted on the document “no objection”.

However, in early 2021, the government had changed its policy to no longer allow project awards through direct negotiation. Ayob thus advised Shahradzi to instead prepare new letters to apply for the project via a pre-qualification (Pre-Q) tender process.

“In early 2021, Datuk Ayob informed me to prepare the necessary documents to apply for this project through a pre-qualification process instead, as the government no longer allowed the appointment of contractors via direct negotiation,” Shahradzi said.

On March 5, 2021, Shahradzi prepared six separate "letters of interest" using various company licences — including SSB and Majulia Sdn Bhd — to increase his chances, as his own firm lacked the technical capacity. These letters were submitted to then-prime minister Muhyiddin.

Shahradzi said that he had prepared letters of interest to Muhyiddin to participate in the project. Other than SSB, he explained that he borrowed company licences from other contractors such as:

Shahradzi then testified that he first met KCJ Engineering's Azman in mid-2020, at the Works Ministry, and had personally sought Azman’s phone number to establish a friendship. By June 2021, after Sutracom Sdn Bhd received a pre-qualification invitation for the Pulau Indah Phase 3 project, Shahradzi turned to Azman for assistance.

He told the court that he sought Azman’s help to "look after" the project’s status within the ministry, because he knew Azman possessed significant influence and connections with Works Ministry officials.

Shahradzi testified that Azman then contacted him via telephone, explicitly requesting monetary contributions to Bersatu.

According to Shahradzi, Azman suggested that the project would likely be successful and asked Shahradzi to "advance" the donation to the party. While Shahradzi said that Azman did not specify an exact figure, Shahradzi, drawing on his experience as a businessman, estimated that a contribution of 3% to 4% of the contract value was appropriate for the donation.

"I complied with Datuk Azman's request for the continuity and ease of my business affairs," Shahradzi said, adding that he believed the request was tied to the fact that the project had already received a supporting "minute" from Muhyiddin, who was both the prime minister and president of Bersatu at the time.

Upon cross-examination by Muhyiddin’s lawyer Chetan Jethwani, Shahradzi explained that he only leveraged Azman’s influence in the ministry and did not know he was linked to Bersatu.

Chetan: The donation was asked by Azman, and you didn’t know why he asked you donate to Bersatu?

Shahradzi: Correct.

Chetan: Bersatu has nothing to do with JKR (Public Works Department)?

Shahradzi: Yes.

Chetan: You were doing whatever Azman asked you because he helped you at JKR?

Shahradzi: Yes.

Chetan: And you didn’t ask him why you needed to donate?

Shahradzi: No.

The witness detailed a systematic payment process involving cheques from May 2021 to November 2022. To fund these donations, Shahradzi revealed that he had to borrow heavily from family-linked firms, taking approximately RM7 million from Majulia Sdn Bhd and RM13.77 million from Sutracom.

Shahradzi clarified that while the donations were made at the suggestion of Azman, Shahradzi never personally handed any cheque to Muhyiddin or other top party leaders. He testified that he sometimes delivered the cheques to the Bersatu headquarters and left them with the front desk without getting a receipt or any document of acceptance.

When asked by Chetan about his relationship with Muhyiddin, the witness said he did not personally know Muhyiddin.

Chetan: Let me be clear — Azman never asked you (on behalf of Muhyiddin) or told you that Muhyiddin asked for the donation?

Shahradzi: Yes, he never said that or named him.

Chetan: He never named Muhyiddin?

Shahradzi: Correct. He never named Muhyiddin.

Chetan: Muhyiddin never spoke to you?

Shahradzi: Correct.

Shahradzi said that he had never met Muhyiddin and that both men do not know each other personally. Shahradzi said that he only knew Muhyiddin as a politician and the then-prime minister.

The formal procurement process for the project moved forward throughout 2021 and 2022, beginning with an initial invitation from the Ministry of Finance in April 2021, and a site visit conducted by the JKR in November 2021.

In February 2022, SSB officially submitted its tender bid to JKR with a total value of RM605,217,790.00. The project was formally awarded to SSB in October 2022 when JKR issued the letter of acceptance (SST) for the full tendered amount.

The trial continues on Tuesday before trial judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin.