By Rahmat Khairulrijal | New Straits Times
Businessman Lian Tian Chuan, better known as TC Lian, instructed his subordinate to prepare letters to then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin seeking government projects under the Jana Wibawa programme, the High Court heard today.
Nepturis Sdn Bhd director and senior executive procurement Aliza Abd Malek said Lian personally decided the titles of the letters and instructed her to prepare applications for the Klang Utara district police headquarters project and the Central Spine Road (CSR) project in 2021.
However, Aliza said she did not know who the letters were eventually submitted to or how they reached Muhyiddin, as the matter was handled entirely by Lian.
Reading from her witness statement, Aliza said she prepared the letters in February and March 2021 before handing them to Nepturis managing director Rizman Abdullah for his signature.
“After the letters were signed, I returned them to Lian together with A4-sized envelopes.
“I do not know who the letters were submitted to or who Lian dealt with to forward them to Muhyiddin.
“Lian never told me who he was dealing with regarding the applications,” she said before judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin.
Aliza was testifying in Muhyiddin’s trial, where the former prime minister faces four charges of using his position as prime minister and Bersatu president to obtain RM232.5 million in alleged gratification for the party, as well as three money laundering charges involving RM200 million.
The witness told the court that she and Rizman became Nepturis directors and equal shareholders in 2018 after being asked by Lian to take over the company.
Aliza said Lian held no official position or shares in Nepturis, but they understood that he effectively had a 30 per cent interest in the company through funding provided by his company, Metrasys Sdn Bhd.
She said major decisions involving Nepturis required Lian’s approval.
Aliza said Nepturis only became aware it was being considered under the Jana Wibawa programme after receiving an email from the Finance Ministry on March 26, 2021.
Following the notification, Nepturis submitted the required documents to the ministry before being informed by the Public Works Department that it had passed the pre-qualification stage and was invited to submit a tender.
She said the department later issued a letter of intent on Dec 10, 2021, offering Nepturis the RM141 million contract to build the Klang Utara district police headquarters, before issuing the letter of acceptance on Jan 12, 2022.
It was revealed during the trial that Nepturis had obtained overdraft facilities from Maybank in February 2022, including a RM1 million payment made to Bersatu.
Lian’s name has also featured in other corruption proceedings linked to the Jana Wibawa programme involving Muhyiddin’s son-in-law Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad and former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
In Adam Radlan’s case, the former Segambut Bersatu division chief was charged with soliciting RM2 million from Lian as an inducement to help Nepturis secure the RM141 million project.
However, Adam Radlan was acquitted and discharged in August last year after the prosecution withdrew the case following his payment of a RM4.1 million compound.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, Wan Saiful was charged with soliciting a bribe from Lian as an inducement to help Nepturis secure the CSR construction project from Sertik to the East Coast Expressway interchange.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana, in April 2022.
The trial continues.
