Lim Guan Eng has received Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli’s MACC statement as part of the former finance minister’s bid to challenge the credibility of the key prosecution witness in the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel corruption case.
The former Penang chief minister’s counsel Haijan Omar informed the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today that the defence team have received Zarul’s statement given to MACC during its investigation.
Judge Azura Alwi then set two days from Feb 26 for the hearing of Lim’s impeachment hearing against the Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director.
On Jan 9, the criminal court allowed Lim’s bid to challenge 31 pages out of a total 108-page statement given by Zarul to MACC.
Lim’s defence team had sought access to the MACC statement to commence impeachment proceedings to disrepute Zarul’s credibility.
It has been a long-running contention of Lim’s legal team that Zarul lied in his witness testimony against the accused.
The defence team claimed this was because Zarul gave contradictory testimony in a separate criminal case in Shah Alam.
The alleged discrepancy is over whether an RM2 million “chocolate” bribe was meant for Lim or former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
During his testimony in the graft trial before Azura, Zarul claimed, among others, that Lim had asked for 10 percent of future profits in the tunnel project.
The charges
Lim is on trial over four corruption charges involving the planned construction of Penang’s undersea tunnel and paired roads project connecting the island to the mainland.
For the first charge, Lim is accused of having abused his power as then-Penang chief minister to obtain RM3.3 million in monetary gratification as an inducement to appoint Zarul’s company to implement the project worth RM6,341,383,702.
He allegedly committed the offence between January 2011 and August 2017 at the Penang Chief Minister’s Office.
On the second charge, Lim is alleged to have asked Zarul for 10 percent of profits as a reward for helping his company secure the said project.
Lim is purported to have committed the offence at The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, in Kuala Lumpur, between 12.30am and 2am in March 2011.
He also faces two counts of dishonest disposing of two plots of land belonging to the Penang government in Bandar Tanjong Pinang worth RM208 million to the developer of the tunnel project, which allegedly took place at the State Land and Mines Office in Komtar on Feb 17, 2015, and March 22, 2017. - Mkini
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