The High Court hears that the government paid RM16.4 million to Nepturis Sdn Bhd for the Klang Utara IPD project in the ongoing trial of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
KUALA LUMPUR: The government paid RM16.4 million to Nepturis Sdn Bhd for the construction of the Klang Utara District Police Headquarters (IPD), the High Court here heard today.
Former Selangor Public Works Department (JKR) director Lokman Nasir, 62, said the payments for the RM141 million contract were made through eight transactions between May 17, 2022, and Feb 3, 2023.
The 23rd prosecution witness confirmed this after being referred to Malaysian Government Payment Vouchers while testifying in the trial of former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who faces seven charges of abuse of power and money laundering linked to the Jana Wibawa project.
“I confirm that these are documents from the Malaysian Government Payment Vouchers – Payment Instruction from the Selangor State PTJ (responsibility centre) group, JKR to Nepturis Sdn Bhd. I confirm that the payment was made for the Klang Utara District Police Headquarters Construction Project in Selangor.
“Based on these payment vouchers, I confirm that the payments were made to Nepturis’s Maybank Islamic Berhad account,” he said in his witness statement.
In previous proceedings, a businessman, Lian Tan Chuan, told the court that he had asked Nepturis managing director Mohd Rizman Akum Khan to prepare a RM1 million cheque for payment to Bersatu.
Lokman, who retired last April, also confirmed that the Klang Utara IPD project fell under the jurisdiction and financial purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“There were also several other payments that were still in process or had yet to be effected at the time,” he said.
Responding to deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin’s question on payment procedures, Lokman confirmed that no irregularities were detected in the government’s transaction process at the time.
Meanwhile, 24th prosecution witness, Datuk Zulkipeli Yamat, told the court that the government had also agreed to accept a tender offer worth RM605.2 million from Sutracom Sdn Bhd for the construction and upgrading of the Pulau Indah Ring Road Phase 3 project.
Zulkipeli, a former JKR Quantity Surveying Services director, also confirmed the Letter of Acceptance for the contract, which required signatures from both the government and Sutracom.
Earlier, the court allowed the prosecution’s application to amend the fourth charge to include the name of KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, after the defence raised no objections.
Muhyiddin, 79, who was then also Bersatu president, was charged with four counts of abuse of power for allegedly soliciting RM232.5 million in bribes for the political party from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Datuk Azman Yusoff in connection with the Jana Wibawa project.
He was accused of committing the offence at the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra, Putrajaya between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021, under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The Pagoh MP also faces three charges of receiving RM200 million in unlawful proceeds from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu’s Ambank and CIMB Bank accounts, allegedly committed in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022.
These charges were brought under Section 4(1)(b) 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 either five times the value of the proceeds from unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
The trial before Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin resumes tomorrow.
