KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor “instructed” former Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz to facilitate a developer in land deals during his tenure as the Federal Territories minister, the High Court was told.
Amin, who was the seventh prosecution witness in Tengku Adnan’s corruption trial, revealed that there were instruction notes by Tengku Adnan in two letters from developer Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd, dated Aug 26, 2015, and Feb 3, 2016.
He said the letters, which contained notes from the minister to him, were in relation to the sale of two plots of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) land, at Lot 53247 and Lot 53653, to Aset Kayamas.
He said before he was appointed mayor, Tengku Adnan, who was the Federal Territories minister at the time had approved the land sale.
Amin said in the letters, Aset Kayamas had appealed for a reduction in land prices and a postponement of payment of the first 10 per cent for the Federal Territories Affordable Housing (Rumawip) project, totalling RM2,356,240.00.
“The letter from Aset Kayamas contained a note from the minister to me which said “Ybhg Datuk Bandar, Sila tangguh bayaran 10 peratus selama tiga bulan” (please postpone payment of 10 per cent for three months),” he said.
He added that, following the note, DBKL agreed to extend the payment period of 10 per cent before or on Dec 1, 2015.
He said following another similar note on a letter dated Feb 3, 2016, DBKL agreed to reduce the sale price of 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
In his witness statement tendered in court, Amin said the Rumawip project was launched by the Federal Territories Ministry on April 8, 2013, targeting 50,000 affordable housing units in Kuala Lumpur until 2018.
He said the developer active in the development of Rumawip was Tan Sri Chai Kin Kong, whom he met when he became the mayor.
He said Chai had purchased several pieces of land with DBKL for the housing project.
Amin said Chai owned several companies, including Aset Kayamas.
Meanwhile, during the examination in chief conducted by deputy public prosecutor Lailawati Ali, Amin said the power to postpone the payment and reduce the price of land was in the minister’s hands.
When cross-examined by lead counsel Datuk Tan Hock Chuan regarding the same issue, the witness said that as the mayor, he could adopt the order of the minister.
The trial continues before judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.
Tengku Adnan was charged with accepting RM2 million from Chai, whom he knew had a connection with his official function, via a cheque belonging to Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd, which was deposited into a bank account belonging to Tadmansori Holding Sdn Bhd, which the accused had interest in.
He allegedly committed the offence in his capacity as a public servant, which was the Federal Territories minister at the time, at CIMB Bank Bhd, Pusat Bandar Damansara branch, level 1, Lot A4, Block A, Pusat Bandar Damansara, here, on June 14, 2016.
Aset Kayamas was established by Chai in 2011, with a primary focus on delivering homes that are founded in quality and affordability.
Its expanding portfolio featured various luxury residential development projects such as Park Hill in Bukit Jalil, The Henge in Kepong and The Holmes in Bandar Tun Razak.
It has also worked on several affordable housing projects across the Klang Valley in collaboration with the government under the Perumahan Penjawat Awam 1Malaysia (PPA1M) and Rumawip schemes.