Witness: Luggage bag with RM3m cash delivered to Zahid

A former Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) administrative manager told the High Court in Shah Alam today that he delivered a luggage bag containing RM3 million to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at his official residence Seri Satria in Putrajaya.

David Tan Siong Sun, 47, however, said he cannot recall when the delivery was done but that was the second time he went to the former deputy prime minister's official residence, with former UKSB director Harry Lee Vui Khun.

Tan said this during examination-in-chief by lead deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran when he was asked how he sent the money to Zahid.

He said he put the RM3 million in a suitcase with rollers and left it in the living room.

When Raja Rozela asked Tan about his first delivery, the witness replied: “I went to Zahid’s house together with Wan Quoris (former UKSB director Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani).”

“We went to the living room, then Wan Quoris started talking about business operations and political matters as well. After that, Wan Quoris excused himself and left the room.

“Then I picked up the envelope (containing money) and informed Datuk Seri ‘this is the envelope’ and left it on the table. (I) salam (shake hands with) Datuk Seri and left the room,” he explained.

When reading out his witness statement, he said he was the person in charge of preparing the cash to be delivered to Zahid each month.

“I was asked to do so by Harry (Lee). I was also involved in the delivery of cash to Datuk Seri on a few occasions. I have made records to show the monthly cash deliveries to Datuk Seri starting from October 2014 to August 2018,” he said.

He said the money that UKSB used for the monthly and one-time payments was not taken from UKSB’s accounts but came from business partners in Hong Kong.

“UKSB did not have enough funds to cover the payments, so because of that, I had to ask our partners to help us out.

“The funds from Hong Kong would be channelled into Malaysia through money changers in Kuala Lumpur, and then passed on to me in cash. After receiving the cash, I would keep in the company safe box first, and when the time came for us to make the delivery, I would then take out the required amount and put it in a sealed envelope,” he added.

Zahid, 69, is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to SG$13.56 million from UKSB for himself as then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of One Stop Centre service in China and the foreign visa (VLN) system as well as to maintain the contract agreement to supply the VLN integrated system to the same company by the Home Ministry.

For another seven counts, he was charged with obtaining for himself SG$1,150,000, RM3 million, 15,000 Swiss Franc and US$15,000 from the same company which has official links with his official duty.

He was charged with committing all the offences at Seri Satria, Precinct 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights Kajang between October 2014 and March 2018.

The trial before judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa continues tomorrow.

- Bernama