Rosmah trial: Witness claims Rizal Mansor asked him to prepare Jepak Holding’s consultancy agreement on ‘mem’s orders’

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — A businessman linked to one “Tan Sri Desmond Lim” had prepared a consultancy agreement related to the Sarawak solar hybrid project as he was under the assumption the order came from Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the High Court heard today.

Consultant Lawrence Tee told the High Court today that he was asked to prepare a consultancy agreement by Rosmah’s former aide, Datuk Rizal Mansor, during a meeting held sometime in May 2016, that was also attended by Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah, a business partner with Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Tee explained that he had told Rizal at the time that he had no experience in preparing the documents but eventually agreed to the request as Rizal told him that “mem” wanted him to do it.

“I questioned the request of Datuk Rizal and gave him the same response as I did to Rayyan, that the agreement could be prepared by Jepak’s lawyer. I also told Datuk Rizal that I had never prepared such an agreement and had to get my lawyer to prepare it. 

“Datuk Rizal then told me that I had to do it because ‘mem’ wanted me to do it. I did not ask him who ‘mem’ was but acceded to his request because Datuk Rizal was the Special Officer of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor,’’ he said.

The agreement in question was for Jepak Holdings to hire a Taiwan-based firm called Lucky Victory Limited for consultancy work related to the solar hybrid project.

Tee told the court he had prepared the four-page agreement based on a sample from the internet and listed the purported scope of work and even scheduled payments to be made from Jepak Holdings to Lucky Victory.

In the opening statement of the case, the prosecution has posited that the agreement in question was a “sham agreement meant to disguise the payment and to conceal the name of the true recipient of the money”. 

When asked by deputy public prosecutor Poh Yih Tinn who Tee had assumed “mem” to be, the latter answered “Rosmah”. 

Tee had told the court earlier that he was referred by one “Tan Sri Desmond Lim” to handle the documentation of the solar hybrid project for Jepak Holdings as he had usually done so for new projects for the latter, having worked with him since 1997.

Jepak Holdings Managing Director Saidi Abang Samsudin had testified in court before that Rizal had brought him to meet “Tan Sri Desmond Lim” and his officer at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur sometime in March 2016, in order to discuss the terms of Rosmah’s help and payment.

Tee also told the court that Rayyan and Saidi had signed the agreement sometime in October or November 2016.

Tee also said he was not paid for preparing the agreement and again stressed he had done so as Rizal and “mem” wanted him to do it.

Earlier today, Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan had denied the application by the trial’s defence to impeach Saidi, who stands as the 17th prosecution witness testifying against Rosmah in her bribe-for-contract trial. 

The defence had alleged that Saidi was not a credible witness as he had given conflicting statements to the court as compared to the statement he gave to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Zaini had stated that he was not “entirely convinced” by the points of contention raised by the defence after analysing the necessary merits.