TWO contractors told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that they received cheques totalling RM156,500 to carry out plumbing work, build cabinets and other renovation works on Najib Razak’s private residence in 2014 and 2015.
The money came from an account that prosecutors said belonged to the former prime minister.
Interior kitchen cabinet designer Zulkarnain Mohamad, 46, of ABS Trend Master Sdn Bhd, said they built a store, pantry, rack and cabinet at Najib’s No. 11, Jalan Langgak Duta home in Kuala Lumpur.
Mohamad Zakariya Zearat Khan, from specialist plumbing business Moz Malaysia Sdn Bhd, also constructed a 12,000-litre water tank to resolve water supply problems at Najib’s house.
The men, the sixth and seventh witness respectively, worked for companies that received cheques issued from Najib’s bank account, according to testimony earlier today by AmBank cheque-processing officer Badrul Hisam Mohamad.
Badrul showed evidence that a cheque for RM100,000 was issued to ABS Trend Master dated February 12, 2015, while another cheque for RM56,500 was issued to Moz Malaysia on February 24, 2015.
Both Zulkarnain and Zakariya confirmed they received those cheques.
Zulkarnain testified he received a call from Amirul, who he said was a manager of Najib’s private residence, in mid-2014.
He said he met Amirul at a petrol station near the residence before being taken there.
“I asked Mr Amirul, what am I supposed to do? He answered, ‘I want a store and cabinet’,” Zulkarnain said when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi.
“I asked, whose house is this? He said Datuk Seri Najib, and I said I am not worthy. But he said it can be done.”
“I measured and drafted and I made plans; I called a designer to make building plans,” Zulkarnain said.
Zulkarnain said he was commissioned to build a store, pantry, rack and cabinet and said he quoted either “RM234,000 or RM243,000” for the project. The works were completed in early 2015 and he was paid via progress payments with a final payment of RM100,000 via a cheque that he cashed in at a Maybank branch in Setia Alam, Shah Alam.
Zulkarnain testified he only worked at the residence when Najib was not at home, adding he was not privy to other areas of the residence, with exception to the exterior.
He added occasionally, functions were held at the residence, including for orphans.
When prompted by Najib’s lead counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, on how he knew they were orphans, Zulkarnain said they were wearing white, after which the courtroom broke out in laughter.
Meanwhile, Zakariya said he formed Moz (M) Sdn Bhd, which is involved in specialist plumbing.
Zakariya testified that his company was a Syabas (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) panel and maintains pipelines in Kuala Lumpur and Gombak, Selangor.
He said he was commissioned to work on a water tank at Najib’s house in early 2015, and dealt with Amirul and a Datuk Fuad.
He estimated that 10 to 20 people lived in the house.
Zakariya said he never met Najib but was asked if he recognised him, to which he replied in the affirmative.
When asked to identify Najib, Zakariya did so by saying, “belakang tuan (behind you, sir)”, where Najib was seated the dock. The courtroom erupted in laughter.
Saifuddin: What did you do with the cheque?
Zakariya: I banked it in.
Saifuddin: What happened to the money?
Zakariya: I’ve finished it.
The court then adjourn at 5pm, after which Zakariya shook hands with Najib outside the courthouse.
Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed the adjournment after ad hoc prosecutor V. Sithambaram told the court that prosecutors had prior engagements.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, who was present during the afternoon session of today’s hearing, told Nazlan that he had to attend a meeting on the separation of powers between the office of the A-G and the public prosecutor.
The trial will continue on Monday.
Lawyers clash at Najib trial over need for contractor to testify
LAWYERS in Najib Razak’s SRC International trial clashed today over the inclusion of testimony by contractor Zulkarnain Mohamad, who was paid RM100,000 to build a store, cabinet and other renovation works at a private residence of the former prime minister.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas accused the defence of interfering with the presentation of evidence by the prosecution.
“How can the court rule that the prosecution cannot call a witness? If we cannot call witnesses, the case will be stymied,” he told the court presided by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
Earlier, defence lawyer Farhan Read raised a preliminary objection against the witness taking the stand, arguing that Zulkarnain’s testimony was not admissible as it did not pass the threshold required by Section 5 of the Evidence Act.
Farhan said the charges against Najib only involved him taking money and not giving money, hence, the witness was not legally relevant.
“This witness cannot determine whether the accused has committed actus reus and mens rea,” he said.
Farhan added that the court should not be subjected to the prosecution’s theatrics to disseminate the witness’ testimony to the public, referring to the opening statement by Thomas on April 3.
The defence had previously accused the prosecution of prejudicing Najib by detailing things such how much he spent on shopping, which is not linked to his criminal charges.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi argued, however, that the witness’ testimony would show that the accused was aware he was committing an unlawful activity.
Najib’s lead counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said how the money was spent was irrelevant to the case, which only involved the receipt of the funds.
Shafee further questioned the relevance of Zulkarnain’s testimony and the prosecution’s need to prove Zulkarnain received the money.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin said as Najib faces three charges under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (Amlatfa) for money laundering, evidence of the receipt of the cheques was necessary to prove the charge.
Thomas pointed to Section 4 and said the charges should also be read with subsection 2, which provided that spending can form an unlawful activity.
Ad hoc prosecutor V. Sithambaram further submitted that this was to show knowledge of the transaction, and the prosecution was given the opportunity to lead and show the flow of money and how it was used.
“The court cannot be prevented from hearing evidence. On all the (cross-examinations) by the prosecution, they’ve always been given the liberty.
“Let the evidence flow first and then the defence can submit (their objections) later,” he said.
Farhan responded with a laugh, saying that would be putting the horse before the cart.
Thomas responded that the prosecution was being “stymied”.
“How are we supposed to establish our case if we can’t call our witnesses? When every time there’s damning evidence, you cannot call.”
Nazlan later ruled the testimony was relevant to the criminal breach of trust charge under the Penal Code and Section 4(2) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, and allowed the witness to be examined.
“I find evidence of the spending to be relevant to the case,” he said.
The court then heard the testimonies of Zulkarnain and another witness, Mohamad Zakariya Zearat Khan, who runs a plumbing company.
Both told the court that they received cheques totalling RM156,500 to carry out plumbing work, build cabinets and other renovation works on Najib’s private residence in Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur, in 2014 and 2015.
The trial resumes on Monday.
THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.