KUALA LUMPUR: A construction company, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, won a RM141mil government contract in 2022 to build the new Klang Utara district police headquarters, the High Court heard.
Nepturis director and senior procurement executive Aliza Abd Malek, 47, testified that the government agreed to the tender with Nepturis for a 191-week duration.
"(The company) must adhere to all contract requirements and general requirements, including the guidelines and standard operating procedures issued by the Health Ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic without any additional costs," she said here on Thursday (July 9).
Aliza, who is the 13th prosecution witness in Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Jana Wibawa graft trial, said she signed the agreement letter on Jan 12, 2022, alongside Nepturis' managing director Mohd Rizman Akum Khan after receiving instructions from one Lian Tian Chuan.
The court previously heard testimony from a bank assistant manager that Nepturis made a RM1mil transaction to Bersatu via cheque in February 2022.
Aliza also testified that she first worked with Lian at his telecommunications company MK Construction & Communication Sdn Bhd (MKCC) in October 2003 as a procurement clerk before being absorbed into Metrasys Sdn Bhd, a construction company founded by Lian a few years later.
In 2018, Aliza said she and Mohd Rizman took over Lian's company Nepturis in 2018 as company directors, each holding a 50% stake.
"Although Lian's name is not in the company, Rizman, Lian and I know that Lian has a 30% shareholding in Nepturis.
"This is because all the capital injection is from Lian's previous company, Metrasys. All of the operations in the company (Nepturis), Rizman and I must discuss with Lian to have his agreement.
"The reason Lian asked Rizman and me to take over the company was so we could focus the business on construction and obtain a CIDB licence to secure government contracts," she said in her witness statement.
Before securing the RM141mil contract, Aliza said Lian asked her to prepare five application letters for the Klang Utara district police headquarters project for five different companies, including Nepturis.
The other four companies were Permata Rebana Sdn Bhd, Fastcoll Corporation Sdn Bhd, JM Letrik Sdn Bhd and MZ Hakujaya Sdn Bhd.
Aliza said Lian told her the letters were meant for the prime minister at the time, which was Muhyiddin.
During cross-examination by Muhyiddin’s lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, Aliza confirmed that the letters she prepared had used different fonts.
She agreed with the lawyer’s suggestion that the different fonts were used to show that the letters came from different companies and that they had no links to one another.
Muhyiddin, 78, was charged with four counts of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM225.3mil in relation to the Jana Wibawa Project from three companies, including Nepturis, and an individual for the party.
The offence was allegedly committed at the Prime Minister's Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021.
He also faces three counts of receiving proceeds from illegal activities totalling RM200mil which were deposited into Bersatu's bank accounts between February 2021 and July 2022.
The hearing continues before Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin tomorrow (July 10).
/END
COURTS CRIME
