KUALA LUMPUR: A star prosecution witness said he had not named former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng during a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) cheating probe because there was a separate special investigation initiated against the latter on the state undersea tunnel project.
Former Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli told the Sessions Court that he was told of the matter by a MACC investigating officer when he had his statement recorded on the cheating case linked to businessman G. Gnanaraja at the Shah Alam court.
Zarul,65, said this during cross-examination by defence counsel Haijan Omar on why Lim's name was not mentioned in his 2018 MACC witness statement, in which, he alleged Gnanaraja had cheated him of RM19 million.
Haijan: So your only explanation why Lim was not mentioned at all was because the MACC officer did not allow you to tell the truth?
Zarul: Not that he did not allow me, but he said there was a special investigation into it.
Haijan: But when the probe was on-going, you were warned that you needed to reveal all the information you know. Despite the warning, you did not state all that you knew?
Zarul: I exposed it, but he said there was a special investigation. So, he had told me to answer specifically the questions he had posed.
Haijan: I put it to you that you were not barred from giving statements if there was any involvement of Lim.
Zarul: They (MACC) said they have a special investigation. I disagree.
Haijan: I put it to you that Lim's involvement is an afterthought and that was why you had never stated it in your statement with MACC.
Zarul: I disagree.
Zarul, the 23rd prosecution witness, disagreed when Haijan put to him that his evidence in court and the MACC witness statement were significantly contradictory.
Zarul was testifying before judge Azura Alwi, in a proceeding to challenge his credibility over his contradictory statements in court on Lim's on-going RM6.34 billion undersea tunnel project trial.
Meanwhile, Zarul said he realised that he had been cheated by Gnanaraja of RM19 million after he was hauled in for investigations by the MACC.
He said he had paid RM19 million to Gnanaraja, who had promised to seek help from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop any investigations on him or his company and harassment by the authorities.
In August 2017, Zarul said he deposited RM15 million to Gnanaraja to the account of a special purpose vehicle, Bumi Muhibbah Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd, to settle a MACC probe he was facing.
"After that, Gnanaraja called me several times and asked for an additional RM2 million for payment to the (then) prime minister through him to 'keep it warm (ties)' because of the impending 14th General Election (GE14) and it was also to ease the securing of future government projects.
"It was also to stop all attacks against me and my company from Barisan Nasional on the undersea tunnel project and I would not be further harassed by the authorities who want to bring me down.
"I was forced to agree to pay the RM2 million and Gnanaraja directed that the sum to be handed over to him at a hotel in Petaling Jaya on Aug 18,2017 at 10pm.
"But I am unsure if all the money reached the (then) prime minister or not. My thought was that it had been given to the (then) prime minister as assured by Gnanaraja. Although I gave the money to Gnanaraja, I never met with the (then) prime minister," he said.
Zarul had also said that he also wanted Gnanaraja to be the middleman to handover RM2 million to Lim, who had purportedly asked for the sum as GE14 loomed.
Zarul also admitted that his witness statement did not mention that RM4 million cash was handed over to Gnanaraja on Aug 18, 2017 but dismissed it as an afterthought.
Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and Mahadi Abdul Jumaat stood for the prosecution. The trial continues on May 2.
