Kota Kinabalu: Former Water Department Director, Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib, told the Special Corruption Court on Thursday that a large sum of money belonging to others was kept in the pantry of his office.
During cross-examination by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, before Judge Abu Bakar Manat, Ag Mohd Tahir said there were items belonging to others in the pantry, namely a large sum of money, at the time of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) raid in 2016.
On Wednesday, Ag Mohd Tahir, in his witness statement during examination-in-chief regarding the money found in the pantry of his office at Wisma Muis, stated that most of the money did not belong to him and had already been there when he took office in 2003.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});He added that part of the money was his, which he had received from business partnerships with Michael Wong, Fauzi and Haris.
Ag Mohd Tahir said most of the money found in the pantry was not his, as it had already been there when he started occupying the office.
He estimated that about RM20 million was already in the pantry, while roughly RM3 million belonged to him personally.
Ag Mohd Tahir, 63, is on trial together with his wife, Fauziah Piut, 60, and former deputy director, Lim Lam Beng, 66, with each facing separate charges among a total of 37 for money laundering involving RM61.57 million in cash and bank savings, as well as unlawful possession of luxury items between October and November 2016.
When further cross-examined by the prosecution on Thursday, Ag Mohd Tahir said he was unaware that his wife had 19 bank accounts across several banks, including Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), which collectively held a total of RM2.2 million.
He also disagreed that more than 900 pieces of jewellery were found in his wife’s possession in a room that was also occupied by him.
To a suggestion, Ag Mohd Tahir disagreed that the cash, jewellery, luxury watches, designer handbags, and luxury cars found inside and outside his house belonged to him and his wife.
Ag Mohd Tahir agreed to the prosecution’s suggestion that his wife could not have afforded over 90 luxury handbags based on her last drawn salary in 2013.
He said her last job was as a secretary at Ko-Nelayan Kota Kinabalu but was unsure about the prosecution’s claim that her salary ranged between RM2,500 and RM3,000.
In response to a question, Ag Mohd Tahir said he could not recall whether all his other sources of income had ever been declared to the Sabah Water Department’s administration, as it had been too long ago.
He disagreed with the prosecution’s suggestion that he failed to make declarations because the seized cash and valuable items were proceeds of illegal activities, and also disagreed that he did not declare them because he could not explain the source of the income.
DPP: You also did not make any declaration regarding assets owned by your spouse?
Ag Mohd Tahir: I do not remember, it was a long time ago.
DPP: You also could not declare the source of income for the assets owned by your wife.
Ag Mohd Tahir: I disagree.
DPP: If the money and items were lawfully acquired, you would have had no issue declaring them, agree?
Ag Mohd Tahir: I am not sure.
When referred to a document, his asset declaration dated Jan 3, 2005, Ag Mohd Tahir agreed with the prosecution’s suggestion that it was the only declaration he made throughout his service up to 2016.
DPP: From this declaration, you only declared one house at Grace Ville and one car, correct?
Ag Mohd Tahir: Correct.
DPP: From this declaration, you stated that your wife’s income was only RM2,000, correct?
Ag Mohd Tahir: Correct.
DPP: It is clear from this document that the millions in cash, several luxury cars, a luxury home worth millions, luxury watches, and the millions in your bank accounts were never declared, based on this declaration. Correct?
Ag Mohd Tahir: Based on this document, correct.
DPP: And from this document, no business income was declared. Correct?
Ag Mohd Tahir: Correct.
Also appearing for the prosecution are DPPS Haresh Prakash Somiah and Zander Lim, alongside DPP Mahadi.
Representing Ag Mohd Tahir and Fauziah were counsels Datuk Ansari Abdullah and Erveana Ansari, while Lim was defended by Datuk Tan Hock Chuan, Baldev Singh, Karpaljit Singh, and Kelvin Wong.
Trial adjourned to July 23.