KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — The Sessions Court was told today that Lim Guan Eng agreed to businessman G. Gnanaraja being used as a middleman to hand over the purported bribe money to him.

Testifying as the key prosecution witness, Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, 65, said he suggested Gnanaraja as a middleman to avoid being monitored by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“On August 17, 2017, when I met Lim at his office at 7pm, I told him that Gnanaraja was a Barisan Nasional man, had good ties with the (then) PM (prime minister)... and Gnanaraja was the most suitable person to be the middleman.

“I was being monitored by the MACC at the time, so it was too risky for me to pay Lim directly. I needed a middleman as there was a possibility that more money would be handed to Lim in the future,” said Zarul Ahmad.

He said this during the proceedings to challenge his credibility over his contradictory statements in court, regarding Gnanaraja’s fraud case involving RM19 million related to the undersea tunnel project.

When questioned by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin about Lim’s reaction to the suggestion, Zarul Ahmad replied, “YB Lim agreed and said he would be going to Kuala Lumpur soon and wanted to meet with Gnanaraja.”

After obtaining Lim’s approval, the witness said he informed Gnanaraja about the matter via WhatsApp on the same day.

Wan Shaharuddin: What was Gnanaraja’s reaction?

Zarul Ahmad replied: Gnanaraja was very pleased because he could meet YB Lim.

When Wan Shaharuddin referred to a WhatsApp exchange, where Zarul Ahmad said “good for us sir” and Gnanaraja responded “fantastic Dato”, the witness explained that the conversation was about him securing a middleman to hand over RM2 million to Lim.

“Gnanaraja then replied to my WhatsApp message, saying ‘fantastic Dato’, as he would act as the middleman and become friends with Lim,” he said.

The proceedings before Judge Azura Alwi will resume on October 2.

According to the first amended charge, Lim, 63, is alleged of using his position as chief minister of Penang at the time to receive bribes amounting to RM3.3 million, by helping a company owned by Zarul Ahmad to be appointed to implement a highway and undersea tunnel project in Penang worth RM6,341,383,702.

Lim is alleged to have committed the act between January 2011 and August 2017 at the Penang Chief Minister’s Office.

For the second amended charge, Lim is alleged to have sought a bribe of 10 per cent of the profits from Zarul Ahmad as an inducement to help the businessman’s company be appointed for the same project.

Lim allegedly committed the act near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City between 12.30am and 2am, in March 2011.

He is also facing two charges of causing two lots of land owned by the Penang government worth RM208.8 million to be disposed of to companies allegedly linked to the undersea tunnel project in the state.

The offence was allegedly committed at the Penang State Land and Mines Office, Komtar on February 17, 2015, and March 22, 2017. — Bernama