A BUSINESSMAN told the High Court today that the company he founded won a tender under the Jana Wibawa Programme after receiving the support of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, which led him to agree to contribute RM1 million to the Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) party.
Lian Tan Chuan, 55, said he believed that Muhyiddin, who was then the Prime Minister, helped Nepturis Sdn Bhd obtain a pre-qualification tender for the construction project of the Klang Utara District Police Headquarters (IPD), Selangor.
According to Lian, who is also the Director of Metrasys Sdn Bhd, Nepturis' initial application letter was sent to Muhyiddin to seek his support as Prime Minister through the evaluation process at the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The 21st prosecution witness, also known as TC Lian, said that as a result, he agreed to contribute to the Bersatu account in fulfilment of a request from a businessman, Datuk Azman Yusoff.
He said that the RM1 million was not a mere donation or given willingly, but rather a reward for something he had done.
Responding to questions from Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, TC Lian said he would not have donated to the party if Azman had not asked him to do so.
He further stated that Nepturis applied for the project with the help of a businessman, Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad, who is also Muhyiddin's golf friend.
TC Lian said he knew Adam Radlan after being introduced by Azman, who is a member of the Board of Directors of the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).
He said that before that, he had known Azman in 2018 when he participated in the CIDB program in Sarawak, before meeting him to scout for government contract opportunities around 2020 during Covid-19.
He said Azman informed that the government approved the Jana Wibawa Program to accelerate the country's economic recovery and help Bumiputera contractors participate in pre-qualification tenders to implement projects under the program.
"Companies wishing to apply for projects under the Jana Wibawa Programme must have the support of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was then the Prime Minister," he said when reading out a witness statement at the trial of the Bersatu President, who is facing seven charges related to bribery and money laundering.
According to the witness, Azman informed that Adam Radlan is close to Muhyiddin and can help him obtain the Janawibawa project.
TC Lian said that in a meeting with Adam Radlan at the end of 2020, he submitted five application letters to be forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office to obtain Muhyiddin's support and approval.
The application letters were prepared by one of his partners, who is also a director of Nepturis, Aliza Abdul Malek.
According to TC Lian, Azman then informed that Nepturis had a good chance of participating in the pre-qualification tender for the construction of the Klang Utara IPD and asked it to contribute RM1 million to be paid directly to the Bersatu account.
In addition, he said, Azman also stated a proposal to appoint his company, KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, as a consultant to provide advisory services to conduct supplier market research when participating in the tender.
“Nepturis agreed to appoint KCJ Engineering as a business development consultant for six months starting March 1, 2021, for a fee of RM1 million.
“I agreed to Datuk Azman’s offer because I have no experience in carrying out IPD construction projects, which are a bit complicated because they involve a lot of specifications related to technical and safety,” he said.
“I deposited RM1 million in stages into KCJ Engineering’s account because I asked for a lot of help and advisory services from Datuk Azman during the process of preparing tender documents,” he said.
TC Lian said Nepturis then won the pre-qualification tender for the project on January 12, 2022, while a letter of acceptance (SST) was issued by the Public Works Department (JKR).
The trial before Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin continues tomorrow.
Muhyiddin, 79, who was then Prime Minister and Bersatu President, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM225.3 million in connection with the Jana Wibawa Programme from three companies, namely Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, as well as Datuk Azman Yusoff for the political party.
He is accused of committing the act at the Prime Minister's Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020 and August 20, 2021.
The Pagoh MP also faces three charges of receiving proceeds from illegal activities totalling RM200 million from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu's Ambank and CIMB Bank accounts at the bank's branches in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022. – July 28, 2026
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