Witness testifies MOF’s Procurement Division acted on written instructions tied to the PMO in Muhyiddin Yassin’s Jana Wibawa corruption trial.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was today told that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) received instructions from “higher-ups” to only process recommendations from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for projects under the Jana Wibawa Programme.
Government Procurement Division Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Datin Rosni Mohd Yusoff, 54, who at the time was the Government Investment Companies Division Secretary at the ministry, said the matter was informed by Datuk Zamzuri Abdul Aziz, who was her head at the time.
“As a civil servant, the minute (note) inscribed or placed in a document constitutes an action. Based on that minute, action was taken by the Minister of Finance’s Office and instructions were given to the Procurement Division through Datuk Zamzuri and also to me.
“Hierarchically, it came from the PMO’s office to the Minister of Finance’s Office. The Minister of Finance’s Office gave instructions to the Secretary of the Procurement Division to execute actions as minuted, and that was the source of authority for me to carry out the process,” she said when questioned by Deputy Public Prosecutor Noralis Mat.
The 25th prosecution witness said this at the trial of former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is facing seven charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving the Jana Wibawa project.
To Noralis’ question about whether such instructions would not come out of nowhere, Rosni answered, “Yes, that’s right.”
Regarding a letter submitted by the PMO to the Ministry of Finance involving KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, Rosni said her side had received information regarding the company’s performance so that a re-evaluation could be conducted on KCJ Engineering.
Previously, Rosni said in her witness statement that KCJ Engineering had passed the evaluation at the first stage (mandatory criteria) and second stage (financial capability), but failed the third-stage evaluation (technical capability).
She said KCJ Engineering, which applied for the project to Build a New Road Connecting Felda Bukit Jalor to Gemas, Negeri Sembilan, had previously failed contractor evaluations due to having sick projects and unsatisfactory current work performance.
The witness confirmed that the Contractor Evaluation Committee Meeting Decision dated Feb 26, 2021, found that the company had passed the evaluation criteria and recommended KCJ Engineering via direct negotiation to the Minister of Finance.
Rosni, who also served as the Chairperson of the Contractor Evaluation Committee for the Jana Wibawa programme, said that if she had not received instructions, she would not have carried out the directive.
During re-examination by lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, representing Muhyiddin, regarding whether documents relating to those instructions existed for the witness to award the project via direct negotiation, Rosni answered, “There were instructions. I carried out this evaluation based on the instructions.”
Amer Hamzah: So you did not receive direct instructions from Tan Sri (Muhyiddin Yassin)? Rosni: None. Surely I wouldn’t get direct instructions from the PMO. Amer Hamzah: So, there is no document showing that Tan Sri stated this company must be awarded (the project) via direct negotiation, agreed?
Rosni: “There was an instruction stating to agree to an evaluation being conducted, that letter exists. I received instructions, Your Honour, if I didn’t receive instructions, how could I conduct an evaluation? The instructions must also be in writing.”
The witness also agreed with Amer Hamzah’s suggestion that even if there were recommendations from the PMO or the Prime Minister, she still would not have performed the evaluation if there were no instructions from her superior officers.
Amer Hamzah: “That does not mean there were instructions from the Prime Minister for this company to be awarded via direct negotiation, to which Rosni replied, “Instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Muhyiddin, 79, who at the material time was the Prime Minister and Bersatu President, faces four charges of using his position for bribes totaling RM225.3 million for the party from four companies – Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd – as well as Datuk Azman Yusoff, in relation to the Jana Wibawa Project.
He is accused of committing the acts at the Prime Minister’s Office, Perdana Putra Building in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021, under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which provides for a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The Pagoh Member of Parliament also faces three charges of receiving proceeds from unlawful activities totaling RM200 million from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu’s AmBank and CIMB Bank accounts in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022.
For these charges, he is charged under Section 4(1)(b) read together with Section 87(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the proceeds from unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The trial before Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin resume on August 26.
