Lim Guan Eng (second from left), 62, the Member of Parliament for Bagan, is accused of using his position as the then Penang chief minister to solicit a 10% cut in the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project’s profits from Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, in return for aiding the businessman’s company to secure the project. (Photo by Zahid Izzani/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (April 1): Former Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli told the Sessions Court here on Monday that in his WhatsApp messages that he exchanged with businessman G Gnanaraja on Aug 17, 2017, his reference to “big boss” in the messages did not only refer to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Zarul Ahmad, who was testifying in his impeachment hearing as part of former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng’s undersea tunnel graft trial, said he used “big boss” to also refer other people.

Asked by Lim’s lead counsel, Haijan Omar, on what he meant in his conversation with Gnanaraja on Aug 17, 2017, Zarul Ahmad, who is a key witness in the trial, disagreed that his use of the words “chocolates” and “big boss” only referred to the RM2 million handover.

Haijan: There was only one 'chocolate' in your conversation with Gnanaraja, where you referred to the chocolates as the RM2 million handover?

Zarul Ahmad: I disagree.

Haijan: The chocolates were for the big boss only?

Zarul Ahmad: I disagree.

Haijan: The big boss you referred to here was the PM (Najib) and not Guan Eng?

Zarul Ahmad: I disagree.

Previously in 2022, the former director testified that RM4 million was involved in the handover to Gnanaraja. Of this, RM2 million was withdrawn from his company to be paid to Najib, and the other RM2 million, which he withdrew from the safe, was to be paid to Lim.

Zarul Ahmad said the payment to Najib was to secure the former prime minister's help to resolve his case with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), and also maintain close ties with Najib, in order for the company to receive future projects.

The purported RM2 million bribe to Lim, meanwhile, was said to be part of the RM3.3 million that Zarul Ahmad gave to the former Penang chief minister, where the RM2 million was allegedly paid to the DAP politician in 2017 to prepare for the general election in May 2018.

The impeachment proceedings were ordered by Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi in January this year, due to inconsistencies in Zarul Ahmad’s testimony in the trial and in the statements which he had given to the MACC, which were recorded in Gnanaraja’s trial in Shah Alam, where Gnanaraja was charged with cheating.

However, in that case, Gnanaraja later pleaded guilty to the offence under the Companies Act, for which he was fined RM230,000 by the Shah Alam Sessions Court.

Zarul Ahmad agreed with Haijan’s co-counsel, RSN Rayer, as to the WhatsApp messages he had exchanged with Gnanaraja on July 23, 2017, where Zarul Ahmad was informed that Gnanaraja was celebrating a birthday cutting cake with “big boss”, and this referred to Najib, as the former prime minister's birthday falls on July 23.

However, Zarul Ahmad disagreed with Rayer that the term “big boss” was consistently used to refer to Najib, as he said he had used it on other people.

Prosecution objects to line of questioning

The prosecution from the MACC, led by Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, objected to the defence’s repeated questions for Zarul Ahmad.

Wan Shaharuddin said the questions posed in proceedings on Monday were similar to those that were put by the defence during the main trial, and should be differentiated from the impeachment proceedings.

He queried the repeated questioning, which ran along similar lines, claiming that it was not relevant to the impeachment matter and would only delay the trial.

“Such questions on the WhatsApp messages are not relevant, and should be asked when the trial resumes,” the deputy public prosecutor pointed out.

However, Haijan said Zarul Ahmad had to answer them.

Zarul Ahmad also told the judge that he had been testifying for over a year, and reiterated that he had been giving the same answers.

“It’s already been a year. I am trying to tell the truth, and the cross-examination over my impeachment is testing the threshold of my patience. I am not well (the witness is suffering from cancer). What has been asked was addressed during cross-examination by Gobind Singh Deo previously,” the witness told Azura.

“I do not care about the outcome of this trial,” he added.

This resulted in Azura telling Zarul Ahmad to be patient, and just answer the questions.

Lim, 62, the Member of Parliament for Bagan, is accused of using his position as the then Penang chief minister to solicit a 10% cut in the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project’s profits from Zarul Ahmad, in return for aiding the businessman’s company to secure the project.

Lim, who is also the DAP chairman, is accused of accepting RM3.3 million in kickbacks from Zarul Ahmad.

Lim also faces two counts of dishonest misappropriation of property in releasing two plots of state-owned land, cumulatively worth RM208.75 million, to Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd and Zenith Urban Development Sdn Bhd — two property companies linked to the controversial undersea tunnel project.

The hearing before Azura resumes on Tuesday.