KUALA LUMPUR: A businessman today testified that he had given three cheques amounting to RM2 million in person to Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in 2017 and 2018.
Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd director Azlan Shah Jaffril, 49, also told the High Court that one of the cheques worth RM300,000 was initially marked as ‘consultancy fee’ before it was changed to ‘charity’.
The matter was brought up by deputy public prosecutor Gan Peng Kun when he was asking the witness additional questions.
Asked whether there was an order to put the word ‘charity’ on the cheque butts, the witness answered ‘no’.
“It was written (charity) because it (the money) was for the purpose (of the payment),” he said.
He also confirmed that other two cheques were originally marked as 'charity' and 'political funds'.
Azlan was testifying as a prosecution witness in Zahid’s trial involving 47 criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering charges involving millions of ringgit belonging to charity foundation Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
He said he handed the three cheques which were made under law firm Lewis & Co to Zahid at different locations at the deputy prime minister’s (DPM) office in Putrajaya, the Home Ministry office and the DPM’s official residence at Seri Satria between Aug 2, 2017, and Feb 13, 2018.
Azlan said that in 2015, he had sought to have the company start a one-stop-centre (OSC) operations in Bangladesh but there was no feedback on his application.
“That was when I took the initiative to see Zahid who was then the Home Minister,” he said.
The 38th witness said he first met Zahid at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept 19, 2015, where he had asked the latter to consider allowing his company to start its OSC operations in Bangladesh.
“However, after the second meeting with Zahid on Nov 11, 2015, Profound Radiance received a letter from the Home Ministry notifying it of the cancellation of its application to be allowed to carry out OSC of visa processing work in Bangladesh,” he said on the 18th day of the trial.
However, during cross-examination by Zahid’s counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Azlan denied that the payments he made to Zahid was given as a reward for appointing Profound Radiance as the operator of OSC.
Earlier, another witness, former Home Ministry Immigration division secretary Datuk Shahril Ismail told the court that the ministry had seleted Profound Radiance as the operator the OSC in Bangladesh from Feb 2, 2014.
The witness said however, Zahid had agreed with the ministry’s officials’ recommendations to cancel the approval due to the company’s failure to start any operations in regards of the OSC in Bangladesh by the end of 2015.
The company was eventually given another chance to start its OSC operations for Visa processing in Nepal and Pakistan instead.
This was following a series of events including Profound Radiance’s appeals via letters to the then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Zahid in late 2015.
Trial continues before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah on March 2.
On Oct 19 and Dec 14, 2018, as well as Feb 20 last year, Zahid had pleaded not guilty to a total of 47 charges, 12 of which are for CBT, eight for bribery and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.