Investigating officer in Guan Eng tunnel case denies 'blacking out facts' in 'big boss' chat

A witness in Lim Guan Eng's undersea tunnel case at the Sessions Court yesterday denied "blacking out" the facts in a WhatsApp conversation that referred to the "big boss" in order to have the former Penang chief minister prosecuted on corruption charges.

The investigating officer from the Forensic Department of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Wan Mohd Firdaus Wan Yusof, also denied that he was specifically instructed not to include facts in the forensic report on the "big boss", so that Lim would face false charges.

The words "big boss" were included in a forensic report on a WhatsApp conversation between businessman G Gnanaraja and Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli.

However, the eighth prosecution witness disagreed with the suggestion by lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, representing Lim, that the concealment of the facts was "a clear cut to fix Lim up".

In the previous hearing, the court was told that the WhatsApp conversation between Gnanaraja and Zarul Ahmad mentioned, among others, a RM2 million "chocolate" gift for the "big boss".
 
When cross-examining the witness, Gobind said part of the conversation between Gnanaraja and Zarul Ahmad which was allegedly "blacked out" by Wan Mohd Firdaus was a message reading: "Had a good birthday cutting cake with big boss" at 9.41am on July 23, 2017.

Gobind: You know whose birthday is July 23? It's not my client's birthday.

Wan Mohd Firdaus: I don't know.

Gobind: I put it to you that July 23 is Najib Razak's birthday.

Wan Mohd Firdaus: I don't know.

He also disagreed with Gobind's suggestion that he was instructed not to bring the original report, which was given to the Shah Alam Court, with the aim of obscuring the facts about the "big boss" at Lim's case trial.

Lim is facing an amended charge of using his position as the Penang chief minister at the time to accept a bribe of RM3.3 million to help a company owned by Zarul Ahmad obtain a construction project worth RM6,341,383,702 at the office of the Chief Minister of Penang, 28th floor, Komtar, George Town between January 2011 and August 2017.

In a second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a bribe from Zarul Ahmad, namely 10% of the company’s profits, as an inducement for obtaining the project. He is accused of committing the act near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City in March 2011.

He also faces two charges of causing two plots of land worth RM208.8 million owned by the Penang government to be disposed of to companies allegedly linked to the undersea tunnel project.

The offence was allegedly committed at the Penang Land and Mines Office, 21st Floor, Komtar on Feb 17, 2015, and March 22, 2017.

The trial before judge Azura Alwi continues on Sept 18.