KUALA LUMPUR: A key witness in the graft trial of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin admitted in court that he testified to ‘save himself’ from prosecution.
KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd director Datuk Seri Azman Yusoff, 54, made the surprising admission during cross-examination by defence counsel Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik here yesterday.
In an earlier proceeding, Nepturis Sdn Bhd founder Lian Tan Chuan, or better known as TC Lian, testified that Azman had asked him (Lian) to contribute to Muhyiddin’s political party, Bersatu.
Lian stated that he contributed RM1mil to Bersatu after Nepturis was awarded the RM141mil contract to build the Klang Utara police headquarters.
Hisyam: Lian came to court and testified under oath that he made the RM1mil payment because you are the Bumiputera Contractors Association of Malaysia (PKBM) president.
Azman: I don’t know.
Hisyam: I put it to you, your motive to come to this court as a witness for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was to save yourself from prosecution.
Azman: I am not sure.
At this juncture, High Court judge Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nordin intervened and repeated the question to the witness.
“(The lawyer suggested) You came to this court as a witness to save yourself from being prosecuted. Do you agree or not?” she said.
“Agreed,” Azman said.
Hisyam also suggested that Azman had ‘sold’ Muhyiddin’s name in his attempt to convince contractors but the witness disagreed.
Hisyam: Did you receive bribe money from contractors? Do you agree or not?
Azman: I receive contributions from contractors.
Hisyam: I put it to you, the contributions you mention were actually bribes.
Azman: I disagree.
Hisyam: I put it to you, you committed an offence and could have been charged under Section 16 or Section 17 of the MACC Act.
Before the witness could answer, Justice Noor Ruwena told Hisyam that he should explain to the witness what the two law provisions were about.
Hisyam said the law provisions were on accepting and soliciting bribes and asked the witness again whether he agreed or not to the suggestion.
“I am not sure,” Azman said.
Earlier, Hisyam also suggested that there was a ‘live complaint’ about Azman to the MACC, where it was alleged that Azman had taken bribes.
The witness agreed that the complaint was considered ‘live’ as he had not received the letter for No Further Action ( A).
Muhyiddin, 79, was charged with four counts of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM225.3mil in relation to the Jana Wibawa Project from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, KCJ Engineering and Azman.
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 on Sept 1.
