KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court has heard that Sayed Amir Muzzakkir Al Sayed Mohamad demanded a RM19mil 'lump sum' payment from Nexuscorpgroup Sdn Bhd (NSB) after it secured a maintenance and spare parts tender for the police.
NSB chief operating officer Azman Kamaruddin, 45, testified that the company's managing director, Wan Azhar Mohamed Yusof, informed him that the former political secretary to ex-home minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin demanded a 5% cut of a RM381mil police tender.
The project involved the pre-qualification, maintenance, and supply of spare parts for RMPNet infrastructure equipment, servers, software and radio consumer systems.
"Wan Azhar told me the 5% payment to Sayed Amir was due because NSB had won the tender.
"I was not told how or through which company it would be made," he said in his witness statement during the trial of Sayed Amir, 43, who faces three corruption charges involving RM350,000.
The eighth prosecution witness testified that Wan Azhar initially said the accused demanded the payment of around RM19mi in a lump sum three to four months after the letter of acceptance.
"Wan Azhar refused to pay it all at once, saying NSB lacked the funds. He instead proposed paying in stages," the witness added.
Azman testified that Wan Azhar told him in early 2021 he had met Sayed Amir but Azman did not know how often or why, as he was not present.
"I believe Sayed Amir helped NSB win the tender because he was the home minister's political secretary so Wan Azhar had to pay him.
"Wan Azhar only told me payments had been made. I don't know the amounts. I confirm that only Wan Azhar signed cheques or approved online transfers to him. I was never involved in the 5% payment," Azman said.
As project director, Azman said he helped prepare the RMPNet tender documents with other staff and submitted them to the Home Ministry in early 2020. He was also responsible for smooth field operations, overseeing quotation preparation and claims to the police.
Sayed Amir was charged on May 23, 2024, with two counts of accepting RM350,000 in bribes from NSB managing director Wan Azhar Mohamed Yusof, allegedly as a reward for helping secure a RM381.1mil tender for RMPNet maintenance and spare parts.
The offences are said to have occurred at the Yayasan Tanah Aku office in Solaris Dutamas on Dec 4 and 16, 2020.
He also faces a third charge for soliciting RM350,000 from the same person for the same purpose at the Nexuscorp office in Shah Alam in early December 2020.
He was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) with up to 20 years' jail and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The trial before Judge Rosli Ahmad resumes on Tuesday (Jan 13). – Bernama
