KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 3): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer (IO) that had investigated the Penang undersea tunnel case has denied at the Sessions Court on Monday that his probe against DAP advisor Lim Guan Eng was one-sided and meant to implicate him.
The IO, Zulhilmi Ramli, disagreed with Lim’s counsel Mohd Haijan Omar’s suggestions over this, following discrepancies in his investigations and testimony with regards to the case.
Haijan had asked the MACC IO over his testimony, that Lot 702 and Lot 713 on Penang Island had been given in a land-swap exchange, to Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG), after the company had completed its feasibility study and detailed designed for the three roads and Penang undersea tunnel — whereas this was not what had happened.
The defence lawyer had shown to the MACC IO that Lot 702 and portions or two acres of Lot 713 had been given to CZBUCG after the feasibility study and detailed design for the three main roads had been handed to the Penang government but this did not include the Penang undersea tunnel.
The IO agreed that he had made a mistake in his testimony but stood by his testimony that was based on statements which he had recorded from CZBUCG former director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli.
Haijan had also shown that the actual cost for the whole feasibility study and detailed design for the three main roads had cost RM305 million but the two plots of land in question are worth RM208 million.
Haijan: Were there any other forms of payment after Lot 702 and Lot 713 were handed to CZBUCG?
Zulhilmi: No.
Haijan: There are slightly more than two acres of Lot 713 that were not handed to CZBUCG?
Zulhilmi: True.
Haijan: Hence, looking at your testimony — that the fact that Lot 713 was wholly transferred — is not accurate at all?
Zulhilmi: I do not agree.
Haijan: Please show that the whole of Lot 713 was transferred to CZBUCG, which you say was actually transferred.
Zulhilmi : As stipulated in Paragraph 59 of my witness statement, I said a portion of Lot 702 and Lot 713 was handed over after the feasibility study and detailed design study were done at a cost of RM305.8 million.
Haijan: So, it is only a portion of Lot 713 that had been transferred to CZBUCG in exchange?
Zulhilmi: Yes.
Discrepancy in CZBUCG claim
Haijan further asked whether the claim by CZBUCG over Lot 702 and Lot 703 was only for the three main roads, to which Zulhilmi disagreed.
Haijan: Show me that the feasibility study and detailed design of the undersea tunnel were handed to the Penang government.
Zulhilmi: I know that the feasibility study and detailed design were done by CZBUCG.
Haijan: Show me that there is a stamped [proof] or that a courier had sent the feasibility study and detailed design of the Penang tunnel. Where is the evidence?
Zulhilmi: As I remember it, this is an old case; the feasibility study and detailed design were done with the preliminary detail done [provided] by CZBUCG.
When shown the inconsistency of Zulhilmi’s testimony when he had claimed that the two lands had been given to CZBUCG following the completion of the feasibility study and detailed design of both the Penang tunnel and the three main roads, the prosecution witness agreed to this.
Haijan: I put it to you that your investigation is one-sided and meant to implicate Lim?
Zulhilmi: I disagree.
Haijan: Do you know for a fact that till today, the final amount of RM305.8 has not been settled by the Penang government?
Zulhilmi: I am not certain.
Following this, Haijan had shown that Lot 702 and a portion of Lot 713 had been given in exchange, for the cost of only RM208 million, and the remaining of close to RM90 million has not been paid yet till today, to debunk the IO’s statement that all had been paid and that the Penang government had lost out in the deal.
Exchange of two lands better than exchange of other bigger lands
The lawyer also showed that with the exchange of the two lands, the Penang government had saved a lot by giving up more Penang land for the land swap as the said two pieces of land, despite being smaller, cost more, to which Zulhilmi agreed.
When testifying for the prosecution, Zulhilmi had said that the Penang government had suffered losses with regards to the land swap.
When questioned by another of Lim’s defence counsels, RSN Rayer, Zulhilmi had agreed that four investigation papers had been opened against Lim but there had been no action taken to charge the former Penang chief minister.
However, the witness said that the prosecution had decided to charge the DAP politician after further statements had been recorded from Zarul Ahmad, the late Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng and businessman Datuk G Gnanaraja.
Zulhilmi mostly answered that he could not remember what Lim had said in his statement which had been recorded by the MACC during the probe but defended his investigation to charge the politician.
Lim is on trial for 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 Ahmad, in return for aiding Zarul Ahmad’s company to secure the project.
The 65-year-old former finance minister, who is the current Bagan member of Parliament and Ayer Putih assemblyman, is also accused of getting RM3.3 million in kickbacks. A purported RM2 million paid on Aug 18, 2017, and Aug 29, 2017, via Gnanaraja, is said to be part of the RM3.3 million.
Lim also faces two counts of dishonest misappropriation of property in the release of 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.
The trial before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi continues on Aug 7 with cross-examination from another of Lim’s counsel Ramkarpal Singh.