Ahmad Zahid is present at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to attend a hearing on May 23, 2022. – Bernama photo
SHAH ALAM (9 June): The former director of Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) told the High Court today that the financial aid given to Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was aimed at strengthening the firm’s position as a contractor of the Ministry of the Interior.
Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani, 42, said that with the help, the company not only won the support of the former deputy prime minister, but also managed to reduce competitive disruptions from others. companies carrying out the same activity.
“Datuk Seri Zahid asked for help, so we gave him help. What was important to us was to ensure that our business was not disrupted, as several other companies were pushing for the work we were doing. »
Wan Quoris Shah stated this in his witness statement during examination-in-chief by Deputy Attorney General Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Laden.
The witness said that without the help and support of Ahmad Zahid, the company would not have been able to maintain or extend the Foreign Visa System (VLN) contracts.
Wan Quoris Shah also admitted that the company gave money to Ahmad Zahid on several occasions.
“The money was given after he (Ahmad Zahid) asked the UKSB to make a political donation for UMNO. He didn’t openly ask, but the way he spoke I understood that he was expecting a monetary contribution from the UKSB.
“The contribution paid by the UKSB each month was in cash, all in Singapore dollars. This is what Datuk Seri (Ahmad Zahid) asked us,” he said.
Earlier, prosecution witness 15 Harry Lee Vui Khun, who is also a former director of the UKSB, also told the court that from 2014 to 2018 the company sent money in Singapore dollars to Ahmad Zahid under VLN contracts.
Meanwhile, Wan Quoris said it was normal for companies to pressure government officials for contracts.
“For the UKSB, our aim of meeting Datuk Seri Zahid (Ahmad Zahid) at the time was to strengthen our position as the sole contractor to supply the VLN system to the ministry so that no one could disrupt the UKSB’s business “, did he declare.
Ahmad Zahid, 69, faces 33 charges of receiving bribes worth 13.56 million Singapore dollars (RM42 million) from the UKSB as a inducement for himself as a civil servant and interior minister at the time to extend the company’s contract as operator. of the One-Stop Center (OSC) in China and the VLN system as well as to maintain the agreement for the supply of accessories of the integrated VLN system to the same company by the Ministry of the Interior.
On seven other counts, Zahid was charged as Home Secretary with obtaining for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 million, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in the course of his official work.
He is accused of committing all offenses at Seri Satria, Presint 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.
The trial before Judge Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa continues on June 13. – Bernama
