By Justin Cheng | The Edge Malaysia
A key prosecution witness in Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Jana Wibawa trial conceded in the High Court on Thursday that an assertion in his written statement claiming that the former prime minister had minuted a support letter for his company was factually inaccurate.
Lian Tan Chuan, also known as TC Lian — a director of Metrasys Sdn Bhd and beneficial owner of 30% of Nepturis Sdn Bhd — admitted the error during cross-examination by defence counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad regarding Paragraph 23 of his witness statement. The testimony concerns the RM141 million Klang Utara district police headquarter (IPD) project under the Jana Wibawa initiative.
In his original statement, Lian claimed that his business associate and Bersatu Segambut division chief Adam Radlan Adam Muhamad informed him that Muhyiddin had minuted a support letter attached to “my company’s application”.
Amer Hamzah: You would agree with me that there is no minute as what you have stated in paragraph 23… So that statement is not correct, isn’t it?
Lian: Yes, I agree.
When confronted with court exhibit P148B, Lian admitted that “my company” referred to Nepturis, and that Nepturis’s application letter contained no minute or endorsement from Muhyiddin.
Support minute on proxy company
A support minute from Muhyiddin does exist, the defence counsel submitted, but it was actually penned on an application submitted by MZ Hakujaya Sdn Bhd — one of four other companies whose names Lian had borrowed to submit proxy applications to create the appearance of competition during the pre-qualification (Pre-Q) stage.
Lian admitted that Adam Radlan, who served as an intermediary, likely did not know which of the applications belonged to Lian’s company since all five were submitted in a single sealed envelope.
Lian agreed with the defence’s argument that the recipient or the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) could not have known which company was affiliated with him.
Under further cross-examination, Lian agreed that the endorsement on MZ Hakujaya’s letter had no bearing on the technical evaluations conducted by the Public Works Department (PWD) or the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
He affirmed that the formal letter of acceptance (Surat Setuju Terima or SST) issued on Jan 12, 2022, relied solely on standard tender evaluation metrics without referencing any support letter.
During re-examination by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Lian clarified why he had initially made the statement, explaining that Adam Radlan told him the five applications were submitted together so that “whichever letter was processed, the rest would qualify to MOF.”
Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin sought further clarification from the witness regarding the discrepancy:
Noor Ruwena: Because “my company” (syarikat saya) is Nepturis, and if we look at the letter, there is no minute from the PM… Is your answer in 23 correct or not?
Lian: Not correct.
Non-Bumiputera ownership and company setup
During re-examination, the prosecution questioned Lian on why he pursued Jana Wibawa contracts through Nepturis despite being a non-Bumiputera owner.
Wan Shaharuddin: Why didn’t Metrasys apply for government projects?
Lian: We never tried applying because there are limited government projects opportunities for non-Bumi firms compared to Bumi firms.
Wan Shaharuddin pressed Lian on whether using Nepturis to apply for Jana Wibawa projects was an attempt to mislead the government.
Wan Shaharuddin: Did you intend to lie to the government?
Lian: No.
Wan Shaharuddin: Why did you not convert Metrasys into a Bumiputera firm since you have Rizman and Aliza… could you have converted it before?
Lian: No, because I wanted to maintain Metrasys under me and my wife. For Bumiputera firms, we had other plans… that is why we set Nepturis up.
Wan Shaharuddin: Were those actions to cheat the government into getting projects?
Lian: No.
Wan Shaharuddin: Can you explain why?
Lian: Following CIDB’s requirements, my name cannot be present in two firms.
Wan Shaharuddin: Please explain further… I am very curious.
Lian: For example, my name is already in Metrasys, so I cannot register my name under Nepturis as it will get rejected and Nepturis would not have gotten its G7 ratings and Bumi status.
RM1 million payment: Reward vs political donation
The court also heard about the nature of the RM1 million payment Nepturis made to Bersatu on Feb 16, 2022. Wan Shaharuddin questioned the distinction between minor political donations requested by Adam Radlan and the RM1 million payment requested by Datuk Azman Yusoff, president of the Bumiputera Contractors Association.
Lian testified that Adam Radlan had occasionally requested minor contributions ranging between RM5,000 and RM10,000 for community work and political activities with no strings attached.
In contrast, Lian described the RM1 million paid to Bersatu as a “reward” following the issuance of the SST for the Klang Utara project, prompted by Azman’s assertion that Muhyiddin and Bersatu had assisted in securing the contract.
However, Lian confirmed during cross-examination that Muhyiddin never requested any funds or donations for himself or Bersatu, and that Lian never informed Muhyiddin about the RM1 million contribution.
Muhyiddin, 79, is facing seven charges in this trial: four counts of abuse of power involving RM225.3 million in alleged gratification, and three counts of money laundering involving RM200 million. He is accused of receiving bribes from Azman and three companies — including Nepturis and Mamfor Sdn Bhd — allegedly for the benefit of Bersatu.
The trial continues before Noor Ruwena on Friday.
Edited by Tan Choe Choe
