KUALA LUMPUR: A key witness in the Penang undersea tunnel corruption case has admitted using a middleman to avoid being monitored by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli said he suggested businessman G. Gnanaraja as a middleman, when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
"I was concerned because I was being monitored by the MACC; I used Gnanaraja because he is an associate of the (then) prime minister and (former Penang chief minister) Lim Guan Eng also agreed," he said.
Zarul, 63, said he contacted Lim in early August, 2017, to recommend that Gnanaraja be used as a middleman to receive the money on Lim's behalf.
"Gnanaraja is a Barisan Nasional man who was close to the PM at the time and was the most appropriate person to be the middleman. Lim agreed and said he would travel to Kuala Lumpur to meet with Gnanaraja," he said.
Zarul also admitted to sending WhatsApp messages to Gnanaraja to tell the latter that he missed him and wanted to give him some "chocolates".
He had previously explained that "chocolates" in this context was RM4 million in cash.
Zarul explained that this conversation was carried out before Lim had agreed to use Gnanaraja as he was confident that Gnanaraja had all the right attributes for the "job".
Wan Shahruddin then suggested that after Lim had agreed to use Gnanaraja, Zarul had contacted the BN man via WhatsApp call to tell him what had occurred.
Asked what Gnanaraja's reaction had been, Zarul said the latter had been happy because he would get to meet Lim.
"Gnanaraj said to me, 'Fantastic, datuk', and I replied it was good for both of us," he said.
Asked again why he had used a middleman, Zarul said he realised he was being monitored by MACC and there was a high risk involved, adding that there was a possibility that more money would be passed on to Lim.
Wan Shaharuddin then asked the court permission to call a witness to collaborate Zarul's testimony, but this was objected to by Lim's defence lawyer, Haijan Omar.
Judge Azura Alwi then set Oct 2 to hear the objection.
The trial proper will continue on Oct 23.
Lim faces four charges of using his position as the then chief minister to solicit gratification to help Zarul's company secure the project.
He was accused of receiving RM3.3 million for himself to assist the company owned by Zarul to carry out the tunnel project and main road works worth RM6,341,383,702 between January 2011 and August 2017.
He was also charged with soliciting 10 per cent of the company's profits from Zarul for the same project.
Lim pleaded not guilty to two counts of dishonest misappropriation of property by disposing of two plots of land belonging to the Penang government in Bandar Tanjong Pinang worth RM208 million to Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd and Zenith Urban Development Sdn Bhd — companies linked to the tunnel project — on Feb 17, 2015 and March 22, 2017.