RM2 mln "chocolate" not given to Lim, but another party - Lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court here today was told that RM2 million in bribes - codenamed "chocolate" - allegedly given to Lim Guan Eng, was actually paid to another party.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, who represented Lim, said two prosecution witnesses, Azli Adam and Ibrahim Sahari, who testified in the fraud case involving businessman G. Gnanaraja at the Shah Alam Sessions Court, confirmed that the money was given to other people.

"In the trial of this case in this court, Azli and Ibrahim, who were the 28th and 29th prosecution witnesses respectively, testified that the RM2 million was given to Lim.

"However, when testifying at the Shah Alam Court, they both confirmed that the money was given to someone else. Accordingly, I want this court to play two video clips regarding the testimony given by Azli and Ibrahim in the Shah Alam Court to find out the lies they told this court," he said.

The lawyer said this when questioning the eighth prosecution witness, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer, Wan Mohd Firdaus Wan Yusof at the corruption case trial of Lim, who is facing four charges involving the construction of an undersea tunnel and a major road construction project in the state worth RM6.3 billion.

However, the request to play the video was objected to by Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin on the grounds that the video was not relevant to Wan Mohd Firdaus.

Judge Azura Alwi also questioned the need to play the video for the witness (Wan Mohd Firdaus) as he could only give his opinion regarding it.

Gobind then asked the witness to submit a copy of the WhatsApp conversation between Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli and Gnanaraja on Aug 17, 2017, which is believed to contain 'proof' that the RM2 million "chocolate" was not for Lim, but for other another party.

The court then ordered the witness to submit a copy of the WhatsApp conversation tomorrow, and for the trial to resume tomorrow as well.

Lim, 61, is facing an amended charge of using his position as the chief minister of Penang to accept a bribe of RM3.3 million in helping a company owned by Zarul Ahmad to obtain a construction project worth RM6,341,383,702 at the Office of the Chief Minister of Penang, 28th Floor, Komtar, George Town between January 2011 and August 2017.

For the second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a bribe from Zarul Ahmad, namely 10 per cent of the company's profits, as an inducement for obtaining the project and is accused of committing the act near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here in March 2011.

Lim also faces two charges of causing two plots of land worth RM208.8 million owned by the Penang government to be disposed of to two companies allegedly linked to the undersea tunnel project.

-- BERNAMA