KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli told the Sessions Court today that he is indebted to former Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Zarul Ahmad, 62, said he had no intention of fabricating evidence and linking Lim’s name in the corruption case on the construction of main roads and undersea tunnel in Penang.
“I have no intention of making up a story against YB Lim because I am indebted to him. If possible, I don’t want to implicate him in any case,” he said at Lim’s case hearing.
He said he instructed CZCSB’s former director and former senior vice president of Finance and Corporate Services, Ibrahim Sahari and Azli Adam, to use forged invoices and payment vouchers, to cover the trail of cash payments made to Lim.
The 23rd prosecution witness in his testimony in court earlier said Lim asked for a bribe of 10 per cent of the profits his company would earn in the construction project.
Responding to deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin’s question whether the order to falsify the invoice was made to avoid being investigated and not to defend Lim, Zarul Ahmad said the steps to make the falsified invoice were taken so that Lim’s name would not appear in any CZCSB account.
Zarul Ahmad said that after being released from the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in early January 2018 in relation to the investigation of the corruption case, he had met with Ibrahim and Azli and told the truth that the invoices and vouchers in question were payments to Lim.
Asked by Wan Shaharuddin about the two statements he issued to the media in July 2018, Zarul Ahmad said Lim had instructed him to do so to prevent CZCSB from being further investigated by MACC.
“I received instructions from Lim to release the media statement to make it appear as if I was forced when giving a statement to the MACC regarding the tunnel corruption case,” he said.
Lim is facing an amended charge of using his position as the Penang Chief Minister to accept a bribe of RM3.3 million, in helping a company owned by Zarul Ahmad to obtain a construction project worth RM6,341,383,702, at the Penang Chief Minister’s Office, 28th Floor Komtar, George Town between January 2011 to August 2017.
For the second amended charge, Lim is accused of asking Zarul Ahmad for a bribe of 10 per cent of the company’s profits, as an appreciation for getting the project and is accused of committing the act near The Garden Hotels, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, here in March 2011.
For the second amended charge, Lim is accused of asking Zarul Ahmad for a bribe of 10 per cent of the company’s profits, as an appreciation for getting the project and is accused of committing the act near The Garden Hotels, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, here in March 2011.
Lim, who is also the former secretary general of DAP, is also facing two charges for causing two land lots worth RM208.8 million belonging to the Penang government to be disposed of to two companies, which are alleged to be related to the undersea tunnel project.
He is alleged to have committed the offence at the Penang Land and Mines Office, Floor 21, Komtar on Feb 17, 2015 and March 22, 2017.
The hearing before Judge Azura Alwi continues on August 4.
