THE investigating officer in the corruption case involving former Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and the construction of three main roads and an undersea tunnel in Penang stressed that he never ignored important aspects in his investigation.
MACC investigating officer Zulhilmi Ramli said this when answering questions from Lim’s lawyer, Haijan Omar, during cross-examination.
The 38th prosecution witness is being cross-examined by Haijan, who is questioning the connection between the former chairman of Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG), Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli and VST Cemerlang Sdn Bhd.
The two companies are bidders for the construction of three main roads and an undersea tunnel in Penang.
When cross-examined, Zulhilmi agreed with Haijan's suggestion that he did not conduct an investigation into the connection between Zarul Ahmad and VST Cemerlang and only found out about it when the lawyer raised it.
When asked if his investigation showed Zarul Ahmad quietly putting VST Cemerlang to bid for the project, Zulhilmi said he was not sure.
In his witness statement, Zulhilmi said that CZBUCG was the best company out of the five bidders evaluated for the project.
He said that CZBUCG had obtained a score of 93 per cent compared to the closest bidder, VST Cemerlang, which obtained a score of 77 per cent.
He said that, therefore, the CZBUCG company was chosen to obtain the tender for the project involved.
In his statement yesterday, Zulhilmi said CZBUCG had information that gave it an advantage in terms of technical and financial terms to obtain the construction project.
According to the witness, through his investigation, there were discussions between the company involved and the state government without involving other tenderers.
Zulhilmi said that this situation gave CZBUCG an advantage to obtain the project involved through direct negotiations before the implementation method was changed to an open tender.
Zulhilmi gave evidence against Lim, 65, who is accused of using his position to obtain bribes for himself, amounting to RM3.3 million while serving as Chief Minister of Penang.
This was allegedly done by helping a company owned by former Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd director Zarul Ahmad to be appointed to carry out a major road and tunnel construction project in Penang worth RM6,341,383,702.
For the second charge, the Bagan MP is accused of requesting a bribe of 10 per cent of the profits to be obtained from Zarul Ahmad as a reward for helping the businessman's company be appointed for the same project.
He also faces two charges of causing two lots of land owned by the Penang Government, worth RM208.8 million, to be disposed of to a developer company in connection with the undersea tunnel project.
The trial before Judge Azura Alwi continues on July 23. – June 5, 2026
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