Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli, a key witness in the undersea tunnel corruption trial involving Lim Guan Eng, former Penang chief minister, stated that he never "demanded" the return of approximately RM2 million allegedly given to Lim. Zarul had previously claimed to have paid RM2 million to Lim as "kickbacks" for the tunnel project.
In court, Zarul clarified that he had never demanded the return of the RM2 million from Lim. He also mentioned that his lawyers had sent a letter of demand to fellow businessman G Gnanaraja in 2017 to return some RM19 million given to Gnanaraja, but Gnanaraja had ignored the request.
Zarul further explained that he had paid RM19 million to Gnanaraja, hoping that Gnanaraja would help him halt money laundering investigations and get closer to former prime minister Najib Razak. Gnanaraja was subsequently charged at the Shah Alam sessions court for allegedly cheating Zarul.
During the trial, Lim's lawyer Haijan Omar questioned Zarul about media statements he had made in 2018 and 2019. Haijan pointed out that Zarul had reportedly said in 2018 that his company "received threats from con men who demanded protection money and claimed they had close ties with those in the Barisan Nasional government."
Haijan also mentioned that Zarul had denied Raja Petra (Kamarudin)'s claim of corruption in the tunnel project. In response, Zarul affirmed these statements.
Haijan then asked Zarul about his statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), questioning whether he had made any corruption claims against Lim Guan Eng. Zarul responded, stating that he was specifically told to focus on the cheating case involving Gnanaraja, without specifying who had instructed him to do so.
The trial is set to continue on March 15 before judge Azura Alwi. Lim is facing charges of using his position as then Penang chief minister to request a 10% cut of the profits from the undersea tunnel project and accepting a total of RM3.3 million in kickbacks between 2011 and 2017 from Zarul. He is also accused of two counts of dishonestly misappropriating RM208.7 million worth of state land.
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