Muhyiddin Trial: Nepturis Director Prepared Five Letters For Jana Wibawa Projects
KUALA LUMPUR: A company director told the High Court here today that she was instructed to prepare five letters from different companies to former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for project applications under the Jana Wibawa Programme.
Aliza Abdul Malek, 47, who is also Senior Procurement Executive of Nepturis Sdn Bhd, said that she prepared the five letters on the instructions of the company’s owner, Lian Tian Chuan, also known as TC Lian.
She said that all the letters she prepared were for applications for the Klang Utara District Police Headquarters (IPD) project in Selangor under the Jana Wibawa Programme.
According to Aliza, besides preparing the application letter for Nepturis, she also prepared letters for the companies Permata Rebana Sdn Bhd, Fastcoll Corporation Sdn Bhd, JM Letrik Sdn Bhd, and MZ Hakujaya Sdn Bhd.
“I do not know to whom these letters were handed over or with whom TC Lian dealt in submitting the letters.
“TC Lian never told or informed me with whom he dealt or communicated regarding this application matter,” she said.
When answering questions from Muhyiddin’s lawyer, Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, during cross-examination, Aliza, who is also the 13th prosecution witness, said that all four companies were TC Lian’s business associates.
Aliza also agreed that the act of preparing five different letters was to show that all the companies had no connection with each other.
Amer Hamzah: The content of the letters, the wording and the paragraphs are all different even though they were all prepared by you, agree?
Aliza: Yes.
Amer Hamzah: The recipient would assume they are from different companies, agree?
Aliza: Yes.
Nepturis is a company linked to the charges against Muhyiddin, who faces seven charges of using his position and money laundering related to the Jana Wibawa Programme.
Meanwhile, Aliza, reading her witness statement, said that the company was awarded a tender offer worth RM141 million for the construction project of the Klang Utara IPD, Selangor.
She said that her company received an email on 26 March 2021 from the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) regarding the Jana Wibawa Evaluator-Pre-Qualification Assessment for the Jana Wibawa project.
“I only knew that this project was a Jana Wibawa project through that email. I confirmed that I informed another director, Rizman (Mohd Rizman Akum Khan), and TC about this matter.
“After that, I informed the staff to manage the necessary documentation to be submitted to the MOF.
“Once completed, I confirmed that I handed it over to the company’s runner to submit the Pre-Qualification documents to the MOF at the counter for submission purposes according to the date and time set,” she said.
Former Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in his previous testimony said that there was a minute note by Muhyiddin in the covering letter for five companies regarding the Klang Utara IPD project in Selangor.
He said that based on the minute, the listed companies needed to undergo pre-qualification procurement by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Works Department (JKR).
He said that the letter stated five companies, namely MZ Hakujaya Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Fastcoll Corporation Sdn Bhd, Permata Rebana Sdn Bhd, and JM Letrik Sdn Bhd.
Meanwhile, Aliza said that Nepturis was then asked to submit the tender documents to JKR.
The witness confirmed that JKR issued a letter of intent for the Klang Utara IPD project on 10 December 2021, and a few days later, she signed an agreement at the price offered by JKR.
“I also confirm that the Letter of Acceptance was issued by JKR on 12 January 2022,” she said.
Aliza also confirmed that since Nepturis obtained the project, payments were made to sub-contractors managed by her through company cheques signed by her or Rizman, or through money transfers.
The trial before Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin continues tomorrow.
Harian Metro