KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — A former company vice-president who was tasked with withdrawing money from the firm’s accounts told the Sessions Court today that he did not know if this was used to bribe former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng.
According to news reports of Lim’s corruption trial today, Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) former senior vice president of finance and corporate service Azli Adam was testifying as a prosecution witness.
News portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that Azli said he was instructed by company director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli to make the withdrawals from the company’s accounts, but that it would only be the latter who could confirm where the money went to.
“Only Zarul can verify (who the money was paid to),” Azli was quoted saying to Lim’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo by FMT.
FMT also reported Azli as saying he did not know if Zarul had lied that bribes were paid to Lim.
Separately, news portal Malaysiakini today reported Gobind as suggesting that there was no series of corrupt payments made to Lim and that Azli’s response was that he “does not know”.
Malaysiakini said this was in relation to Azli’s previous written testimony of alleged payments made to Lim between 2012 and 2017 as told by Zarul to Azli.
Zarul Ahmad previously testified that he gave Lim a total of RM3.3 million on several occasions from 2013 to 2017.
On June 27, 2022, Azli, who was also in charge of preparing payment vouchers, cheques and invoices for CZCSB in the past, had told the Sessions Court here that he was instructed to issue “dummy” or false invoices and payment vouchers to cover the actual recipient and intended purpose for the company’s cash payments.
Azli had at that time told the court that Zarul Ahmad had in 2018 allegedly confessed to him and his superior Ibrahim Sahari that the payments from 2012 to 2017 under the falsified payment documents were allegedly for bribes paid to Lim. He had said the alleged confession was made after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) arrest of Zarul Ahmad.
At that time, Azli had also testified in court that he had never taken the initiative to ask Zarul Ahmad about the purpose of the cash withdrawals.
Among other things, Malaysiakini and FMT reported that Azli had today told the court that Zarul Ahmad had made the alleged confession to him that the payments were for Lim while they were at the MACC headquarters for investigations.
According to Malaysiakini, Azli said an MACC officer took him to another part of the building to record his statement after he happened to meet Zarul Ahmad there.
Malaysiakini reported Azli as telling deputy public prosecutor Mohd Mukhzany Fariz Mokhtar that he was not coached by Zarul Ahmad, MACC officers or deputy public prosecutors for his statement that was given to the MACC.
In this trial, Lim is accused of using his position as then Penang chief minister to receive RM3.3 million in bribes to help Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd to obtain the Penang undersea tunnel project, as well as allegedly soliciting bribes amounting to 10 per cent of the company’s profits from Zarul Ahmad for getting the project.
Lim, who is also former DAP secretary-general, is also facing two charges of causing two plots of land, worth RM208.8 million, belonging to the Penang government to be disposed of to two companies, which are linked to the state’s undersea tunnel project.
The trial before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi resumes tomorrow.
