SHAH ALAM – The high court today ruled that three key prosecution witnesses in Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption case involving 40 counts of receiving bribes in connection with the foreign visa system (VLN) were unreliable and not credible.
Judge Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa said the key witnesses, the former directors of Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) Harry Lee Vui Khiun, Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani, and David Tan Siong Sun were not reliable, trustworthy, or credible.
Yazid said the court found that the notations of “Z” and “ZH” that appeared in UKSB’s ledger did not prove that Zahid received the money or gratification.
“I further find that even though there was a suggestion that the accused had received political donations amounting to RM200,000 on two occasions, there is no sufficient evidence of particulars before the court for me to come up with any amended charge,” he added.
He said Lee and Wan Quoris Shah also agreed that there was no independent evidence to support the contention that the money was paid to Zahid.
“Based on all the evidence adduced by the prosecution, I observe there is no closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage produced in court, and the drivers (of the key witnesses), guards, and policemen (at Zahid’s house) were not called.
“Touch ‘n Go transaction slips or phone call logs and messages with the accused were also not produced (as evidence),” he said.
Referring to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s solar case, judge Yazid said all the individuals involved in the process to deliver the RM5 million to her were called as witnesses.
“However in Zahid’s case, the witnesses who were involved or had knowledge of the source of funds, including Nicole (a businesswoman from Hong Kong) and two money changers, were not called as witnesses to support the prosecution’s case,” he added.
Yazid also said the three key witnesses testified that the money was placed in a brown envelope on each occasion of delivery, but the prosecution did not produce any sample envelope as evidence.
“No evidence was led to show the size of the envelope used. I simply cannot imagine what envelope, in what size, could fit SG$600,000 in cash, which is equivalent to about RM1.6 million at the material time.
“Surprisingly, Tan, the creator of the ledger, admitted during cross-examination that the second delivery of RM3 million by way of luggage was an afterthought.
“This admission of an afterthought by PW17 is more than sufficient for me to find that he has zero credibility,” he added.
To further support his finding, the judge said Tan testified that he would record the payments on the same day or the next day, but most of the “remark” columns in the ledger were left blank.
“PW15 (Lee) also agreed that the blank ‘remark’ columns do not show that the monies were paid to the accused. The blank ‘remark’ columns give rise to the possible inference as suggested by the defence that the money could have been distributed among the three of them as they maintained luxurious lifestyles,” the judge said.
He said each of them owned one unit of property at Pavilion, with Wan Quoris Shah also owning a bungalow house in Putrajaya, one semi-detached house in Cyberjaya, two Range Rovers, expensive motorcycles, and paying tax amounting to millions of ringgit.
“Without strong evidential support, I simply cannot consciously make a finding that the money was in fact received by the accused as suggested by the prosecution based on transactions recorded in the ledger, as there was no record that the monies were in fact received by the accused in the “remark” columns,” said the judge.
Yazid said from the testimony of the three key witnesses, it was Lee who controlled and decided on the funds and made payments to various parties.
“Further, the money was not reported to the tax authorities, never reported to the external and internal auditors of UKSB, and are not reflected in audited accounts of UKSB.
“I find that there is sufficient evidence to show that criminal offences have been committed. Based on the ledger, the money received from September 2004 until August 2018 was about RM238,356,966,” he said.
Yazid said the court found that the prosecution failed to make out a prima facie case on all the charges when they failed to prove the foremost important element against Zahid, which is the receipt of the corrupt monies.
“Based on the foregoing reasons and analysis of the evidence and the law, I hereby acquit and discharge the accused from all charges without calling for his defence as the prosecution has failed to make out a prima facie case,” he added.
On the issue of political donation, the judge said the defence failed to lead evidence to suggest that the political donation of RM200,000 was spent for political purposes.
On the issue of unfair trial and selective prosecution raised by the defence, he said the matter did not arise at all in the case.
“I myself certainly have refrained from day one to be swayed or influenced by any comments made outside of this courtroom. It was my solemn duty to uphold justice without favour and fear or prejudice,” he added.
Yazid expressed his appreciation to both parties for their professionalism in conducting the trial, enabling the proceedings to run smoothly without any vexatious and frivolous interlocutory applications.
After the judge finished reading out the more than 100-page judgement, Zahid, clad in white baju melayu and black pants shouted “Allahuakbar”, followed by applause by family members and supporters.
Zahid had pleaded not guilty to 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to SG$13.56 million (RM43.62 million) from UKSB for himself as home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of a one-stop centre service in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain its contract with the Home Ministry to supply the VLN integrated system.
On the other seven charges, he was alleged to have obtained for himself SG$1,150,000, RM3.125 million, 15,000 Swiss francs (RM70,941), and US$15,000 (RM68,542) from the same company, which he is alleged to have known to have a connection with his function as the then home minister.
He was charged with committing all the offences at Seri Satria, Precinct 16, Putrajaya and Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018. – Bernama, September 23, 2022
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