Kuala lumpur: The director of KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd today denied abusing the name of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to convince contractors who applied for projects under the Jana Wibawa programme. Datuk Seri Azman Yusoff, 54, who is also the president of the Bumiputera Contractors Association of Malaysia, said this during cross-examination by lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik at the trial of Muhyiddin, who is facing seven charges of abuse of power and money laundering.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Azman, who is the 27th prosecution witness, disagreed with the lawyer's suggestion that the more contractors he encouraged to apply for projects under the Jana Wibawa programme, the more money KCJ Engineering and Addeen Engineering Sdn Bhd would receive. He also noted that Addeen Engineering is owned by his brother-in-law, admitting he has an interest in the company. However, Azman admitted that KCJ Engineering had received RM1 million from Nepturis Sdn Bhd.
At a previous proceeding, Nepturis Sdn Bhd founder Lian Tan Chuan (TC Lian) stated he had given the RM1 million contribution because Nepturis had secured a RM141 million construction project for the Klang Utara district police headquarters (IPD), Selangor. When questioned by Hisyam whether Azman knew that TC Lian had given the RM1 million contribution because he (Azman) was the president of the Malaysian Bumiputera Contractors Association, Azman said that he did not know.
Azman also disagreed with the lawyer's suggestion that he had been given preferential treatment during the investigation into the Jana Wibawa case. 'I cooperated with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) during the investigation into the case,' he stated. Azman rejected Hisyam's suggestion that if he had not cooperated with the MACC and become a prosecution witness, he would have been charged under the MACC Act.
When questioned by Hisyam about his motive for appearing in court as a MACC witness for the prosecution, Azman expressed uncertainty. However, when questioned again by Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin, the witness agreed that his motive for appearing in court to give evidence was to avoid being charged.
Muhyiddin, 79, who was the Prime Minister and Bersatu president at the time of the incident, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes, totalling RM225.3 million, for the party from four companies, namely Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd and KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, as well as Datuk Seri Azman Yusoff, in relation to the Jana Wibawa project. He is charged with committing the offence at the Prime Minister's Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra, in Putrajaya, between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021, under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009. The provision carries a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The Pagoh Member of Parliament also faces three counts of receiving proceeds from unlawful activities, totalling RM200 million, from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu's AmBank and CIMB Bank accounts in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022. The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b), read with Section 87(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the proceeds of unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.