KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 —The Sessions Court has allowed the defence team to start impeachment proceedings against the prosecution’s key witness at the trial of the Penang undersea tunnel corruption case involving Lim Guan Eng.
In a report by The Star, Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi has ordered the prosecution to provide the court with documents of Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli’s statements to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for examination.
“After hearing the submission, the court is satisfied to allow the defence to begin impeachment proceedings against the witness.
“However, the court also orders for the copy of witness statements from Shah Alam to be submitted to the court first before it can be presented to the defence,” she was quoted as saying at the Sessions Court today.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin assured that the prosecution will furnish the required documents within two weeks.
In 2018, MACC documented Zarul’s statements regarding a cheating case related to a businessman G. Gnanaraja.
Judge Azura said that she will subsequently decide on whether to proceed with the impeachment proceedings after a careful examination of the witness statements for any inconsistencies.
A case management hearing has been scheduled for November 17.
On October 24, Lim’s legal team requested copies of Zarul’s statements to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
According to the defence, the disputed testimony involved Zarul Ahmad telling the court in the present trial he had paid out RM2 million each to Lim by cheque and then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in cash in 2017; while Zarul Ahmad had told investigators in the Shah Alam case that he only made one payment in cheque to Gnanaraja for Najib.
He also asserted that the remaining RM2 million was intended for Najib, as he believed the former prime minister would have the ability to influence MACC to cease investigations against him.
Lim is facing an amended charge of using his position as the then Penang chief minister to accept a bribe of RM3.3 million to help a company owned by Zarul Ahmad obtain a construction project worth RM6,341,383,702 billion.
On the second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a bribe from Zarul Ahmad, namely 10 per cent of CZCSB’s profits, as an inducement for obtaining the project.
Lim is also facing two charges of disposing of two plots of land worth RM208.8 million owned by the Penang government to companies allegedly linked to the planned undersea tunnel project.
