KUALA LUMPUR: A local actress told the sessions court in Lim Guan Eng’s Penang undersea tunnel project corruption trial that the former chief minister and a company director paid a visit to her house during the middle of the night.
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Witness K Geethanjali said her husband, G Gnanaraja, woke her at 2am, informing her that Lim and Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (Zenith) senior director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli had gone to their house at Seksyen 5, Petaling Jaya.
She said the visit took place in August 2017.
“My husband introduced me to YB Lim and we had a short chat.
“My husband, my mother and I then took some pictures with our guest. Datuk Zarul used his mobile phone to take these pictures,” Geethanjali, the first witness to testify in Lim’s case, told the court today.
After they had taken the pictures, she said, Gnanaraja told her that he, Lim and Zarul needed to discuss some “confidential matters” and asked her to return to her bedroom.
“I do not know what they discussed that night and my husband never informed me on the outcome of the discussion,” she said, adding that Lim only went to her house that one time.
However, she said Zarul had visited her husband previously .
Lim is accused of using his position as then Penang chief minister to ask Zarul for a 10% cut of the profits which would be made from the roads and tunnel project.
The former finance minister is also accused of seeking RM3.3 million in kickbacks to appoint Zarul’s company to undertake the project.
He also faces two counts of dishonestly misappropriating RM208.7 million worth of state land to two companies.
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Questioned by Lim’s lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, on whether it was “normal” for Geethanjali and Gnanaraja as business people to meet politicians, she answered in the affirmative.
She said besides Lim, Gnanaraja also knew other politicians.
Gobind: Taking pictures with them (politicians) is also something common?
Geethanjali: Yes.
Gobind: They (politicians) are free to visit your house?
Geethanjali: Yes.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer Saadon Abd Samad also testified today.
To Gobind’s suggestion that the corruption charges against Lim were done in bad faith as MACC only conducted forensic analysis on a handphone earlier this year, and not before Lim was charged in August 2020, Saadon denied the contention.
“We investigate every case thoroughly before we charge them in court,” he said.
Lim was represented by Haijan Omar and Sangeet Kaur Deo, while deputy public prosecutors Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and Ahmad Akram Gharib appeared for the prosecution.
The hearing before Judge Azura Alwi continues tomorrow.-FMT