KUALA LUMPUR: A key prosecution witness has told the court that he was directed by former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng to open a bank account specifically to facilitate payments related to the Penang undersea tunnel project.
Businessman G. Gnanaraja said he set up the company Bumi Muhibah Capital Holding Sdn Bhd in August 2017, which maintained a CIMB account he had exclusive control of.
"Lim instructed me to set up and open this bank account. All requests regarding the company and bank account were made while I was with Lim in a car on Aug 20, 2017," he told the Sessions Court on Wednesday (July 23).
Gnanaraja's testimony further detailed how he met businessman Datuk Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli, a former director of Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB), in May 2017 to discuss setting up the company.
"Zarul and I communicated about having me as the intermediary for bribe payments from him to Lim.
"He chose me as I was not affiliated with any opposition party at the time," he said.
Gnanaraja, who is the 37th witness in the trial and was previously charged in April 2019 with cheating Zarul Ahmad of RM19mil, recounted the events of Aug 18, 2017, at a hotel in Petaling Jaya.
He said he received two bags purportedly containing RM2mil from Zarul Ahmad.
"Zarul wanted to give me RM2mil in cash meant for Lim Guan Eng."
Upon arriving at the hotel, he said Zarul Ahmad handed him two dark bags, saying "1M" as he placed each bag in Gnanaraja's car.
Gnanaraja clarified that "1M" referred to RM1mil per bag.
Upon returning to his residence, Gnanaraja said he meticulously checked the contents of the bags.
"Inside the bags, I found numerous bundles of RM100 notes, confirming what I had been told," he said.
He noted that the bags remained untouched in his study until Aug 20, 2017, which he said was always locked and he had the only key.
He said on that day, Zarul Ahmad called and requested one bag containing RM1mil to be delivered to Lim in Kuala Lumpur.
The court had to adjourn temporarily when Gnanaraja experienced a coughing fit.
When proceedings resumed, he could only proceed to page 13 of his 24-page statement due to continued coughing.
In his statement, Gnanaraja detailed a sequence of events on Aug 20, 2017, where he allegedly gave one of the bags containing RM1mil to Lim.
"I placed the bag in the back seat of Zarul Ahmad's car and travelled with him to meet Lim near a hotel (in Kuala Lumpur)," he said.
"He greeted us warmly and mentioned attending an official event but wanted to discuss confidential financial matters first," he said.
Gnanaraja said Lim wanted to introduce him to an individual named Datuk Ewein (the late Ewein Bhd founder and executive chairman Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng), saying this was the first time he had heard of him.
Ewe, a property developer, was due to be called as the 15th prosecution witness but was found dead after a fall from a condominium in Pulau Tikus, Penang on Oct 5, 2021.
He was involved in the trial as his company gave Zarul Ahmad money for a land-swap deal for a plot of state land, known as Lot 702, between 2013 and 2016 for the undersea tunnel project.
Lim, 64, is facing an amended charge of using his position as then Penang chief minister to solicit RM3.3mil in bribes as an inducement to assist Zarul Ahmad in securing the undersea tunnel project worth RM6.34bil.
Lim allegedly committed the offence at the Penang Chief Minister's Office, Level 28, Komtar, George Town, between January 2011 and August 2017.
In the second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a 10% profit from the company as gratification to secure the project.
The offence was allegedly committed near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here, in March 2011.
Lim, who is Bagan MP, faces two further charges of causing two plots of land worth RM208.8mil, belonging to the Penang government, to be disposed of to two companies linked to the project.
The trial before Judge Azura Alwi continues on Aug 19.
