The Kuala Lumpur High Court was told today that Nepturis Sdn Bhd secured the RM141 million construction project for the Klang Utara District Police Headquarters (IPD) in Selangor.
This was concerning the ongoing trial of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who faces seven charges of abuse of power and money laundering.
Company director and senior procurement executive Aliza Abd Malek, 47, said Nepturis received an email on March 26, 2021, from the Finance Ministry regarding the Jana Wibawa pre-qualification assessment.
“I only learned this was a Jana Wibawa project through that email. I confirm that I informed Rizman (Rizman Akum Khan) and TC Lian (Lian Tian Chian) about it. I then directed staff to prepare the necessary documents for the Finance Ministry submission.
“I handed the pre-qualification documents to Nepturis’ runner for submission at the Finance Ministry counter, within the stipulated deadline,” she said while reading her witness statement.
The 13th prosecution witness added that through the same notification, Nepturis was also required to submit tender documents to the Public Works Department (PWD) for the project.
“I confirm that PWD issued a letter of intent for the Klang Utara IPD project on Dec 10, 2021, and within days, I signed the acceptance at the offered price. I also confirm that the letter of acceptance was issued by PWD on Jan 12, 2022,” she said.
Aliza further confirmed that since Nepturis landed the project, payments to subcontractors had been made, either via company cheques signed by herself or Rizman, who is also a Nepturis director and shareholder, or through bank transfers handled by the company’s finance department.
The witness said she had earlier been directed by Lian to prepare a letter addressed to the then prime minister, Muhyiddin, concerning the Jana Wibawa project.
“I was instructed by Lian to draft a ‘letter of application to execute’ for the Klang Utara IPD project in February 2021, and another for the Central Spine Road: Sertik to East Coast Highway Interchange project on March 4, 2021. Lian himself gave me the titles for both letters.
“I have no knowledge of who received these letters or who Lian dealt with in submitting them. He never informed me about his dealings or contacts regarding the application,” she said.
She said Lian also directed her to prepare similar letters for four other companies, namely Permata Rebana Sdn Bhd, Fastcoll Corporation Sdn Bhd, JM Letrik Sdn Bhd and MZ Hakujaya Sdn Bhd, for the Klang Utara IPD project, and all four were Lian’s business partners.
Aliza concurred with Muhyiddin’s lawyer, Amer Hamzah Arshad, that the letters of interest were prepared by her strictly on Lian’s orders.
Responding to deputy public prosecutor Noralis Mat’s question on whether she knew the letters were meant for the prime minister, Aliza said she understood they were essentially to secure a support letter for the projects from the then premier, Muhyiddin.
On background, Aliza said she and Rizman took over Nepturis from Lian in 2018 and were appointed directors and equal 50 percent shareholders of the company.
“Although Lian’s name does not appear in Nepturis, all three of us - myself, Rizman, and Lian - knew he held a 30 percent stake.
“That’s because the company’s entire capital came from Lian’s company, Metrasys Sdn Bhd. As a result, Rizman and I had to consult Lian on every company decision and operation,” she said.
The witness said Lian wanted her and Rizman to take over the company so they could focus on construction work, secure a CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) licence and ultimately win government contracts.
Muhyiddin, 79, who was then prime minister and Bersatu president, was charged with four counts of abuse of power for allegedly soliciting RM232.5 million in bribes for the political party from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Azman Yusoff in connection with the Jana Wibawa project.
He was accused of committing the offence at the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra, Putrajaya, between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021, under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The Pagoh MP also faces three charges of receiving RM200 million in unlawful proceeds from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu’s Ambank and CIMB Bank accounts, allegedly committed in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022.
These charges were brought under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment and a fine of either five times the value of the proceeds from unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
The trial before judge Noor Ruwena Nurdin resumes tomorrow.
- Bernama
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