KOTA KINABALU, Oct 25 — Former Sabah Water Department Deputy Director Lim Lam Beng told the Special Corruption Court yesterday that the cash and money used to purchase his vehicle, as stated in the charges against him, were his own and not proceeds of money laundering.
Lim, 71, a retiree, maintained that he never received any illicit money, insisting that all the amounts cited in the charges were from legitimate sources, including his personal bank account, his wife’s Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) account, and his share investments in Singapore.
Continuing his evidence-in-chief in his defence before Judge Abu Bakar Manat, Lim was questioned by his counsel, Datuk Tan Hock Chuan.
Tan pointed out to Lim that prosecution’s 29th witness, Teo Chee Kong, had alleged he received a total of RM29,578,843.60, while investigating officer Mohd Yussof Ag Osman claimed that he received RM31,025,495.11, and asked whether he had received any money from Teo or from the “Collection Scheme”.
Lim replied: “No, this is totally untrue. I did not receive any illicit money, neither the RM29,578,843.60 alleged by Teo nor the RM31,025,495.11 alleged by Mohd Yussof.”
Tan asked if Teo’s allegation covered the period from 2005 to 2015 and whether the four charges against him referred to that same period.
“No,” Lim said, confirming that the charges actually referred to October and November 2016.
Tan asked whether the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had recovered any money amounting to RM29 million, RM31 million or anything close to those figures from his house, office, car or person.
“No,” Lim answered.
When asked what happened on October 19, 2016, before his release from MACC custody, Lim testified that Mohd Yussof had approached him and asked him to withdraw RM200,000 from his Maybank Lintas Branch account, sell his Starhub shares in Singapore, and transfer RM1.9 million to hand over to MACC “to show full cooperation”.
“He promised me that no action would be taken against me by MACC if I complied with his instruction,” Lim said.
Lim told the court that he handed over RM200,000 to MACC on October 22, 2016, RM1.9 million on November 7, 2016, and another RM280,000 on November 8, 2016, the latter withdrawn from his wife’s ASB account at Mohd Yussof’s request.
He said all those actions were done because Mohd Yussof promised that no action would be taken against him if he handed over the monies and that he would not be charged in court, adding that he would not have done so otherwise.
Tan pointed out that Mohd Yussof had testified earlier that Lim did not hand over documents concerning his investments in Singapore, but Lim’s statutory declaration and the schedule produced in court in his defence on Thursday showed that he had submitted the supporting documents to MACC.
Asked whether Mohd Yussof had referred to those documents during his investigation, Lim said: “No.”
Tan further asked if Lim was involved in money laundering concerning the cash handed over on those three dates, which formed the subject matter of the second, third and fourth charges against him.
“I can affirm that the RM200,000, RM1.9 million and RM280,000 were from my personal bank account, my wife’s ASB account, and my share investments in Singapore—legitimate money that had nothing to do with the false allegations made by Teo Chee Kong and Mohd Yussof,” Lim replied.
Asked if those sums were proceeds from unlawful activities, Lim said: “No.”
Tan also asked about his purchase of a reconditioned vehicle in 2015 for RM300,000 cash.
Lim explained: “I used my investment gains from trading shares in Singapore, and part of the money came from my children’s contributions.”
When asked about Mohd Yussof’s claim that Lim had no income apart from his salary, pension and gratuity, Lim said: “That is totally untrue because I have other sources of income, such as investments in Singapore.”
Earlier, Tan referred to the testimony of Teo Chee Kong, who allegedly claimed that, based on a TPJA list—which he said was never tendered in court—Lim had received a sum of RM29,578,843.60.
Lim denied this, saying: “It is untrue, because I do not have that sum of money in my house or in my bank account.”
Tan, earlier, asked whether the MACC had recovered any TPJA list from Lim’s house, office, or person during their search, to which Lim replied “No.”
Tan further asked if Teo’s allegation that he had handed over bribe money to Lim at various places was true.
“This is untrue. This is a totally false allegation against me,” Lim said.
When asked why he thought Teo made such allegations, Lim replied: “He tried to implicate me in order to have all his 146 charges withdrawn by MACC, which he successfully did by paying a compound of RM30 million to have all his charges dropped.”
Lim confirmed that the investigating officer in his case was Mohd Yussof Ag Osman.
Tan then pointed to Lim that Mohd Yussof had alleged he was involved in and knew about the Collection Scheme, to which Lim responded: “This is not true.”
Asked about Mohd Yussof’s testimony that his investigation was based on Teo’s statements and allegations, Lim said: “He merely relied on Teo’s allegations against me and did not fully investigate the allegation against me.”
Lim is jointly tried with former Sabah Water Department Director Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib, 63 (first accused), and Ag Mohd Tahir’s wife, Fauziah Piut, 59 (second accused), who are facing multiple money laundering charges.
Lim, the third accused, faced four counts of having a Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle, cash of RM200,000, RM1.9 million and RM280,000, alleged to be proceeds of unlawful activities as framed under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The offences were allegedly committed on October 13, October 22, November 7 and November 8, 2016, here.
Ag Mohd Tahir and Fauziah, meanwhile, are facing 33 counts of money laundering involving RM61.57 million in cash and bank savings, as well as unlawful possession of luxury goods.
Ag Mohd Tahir faces 11 charges under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUA) 2001 and one charge under Section 4(1)(a) of the same Act.
Fauziah faces 19 charges under Section 4(1) of the same Act.
Both also face two joint charges under Section 4(1) of the same Act.
The offences were allegedly committed at separate locations, among others, at an office in Kota Kinabalu, a house in Sembulan, and at several bank branches, between October 4 and November 4, 2016.
Together with Tan in representing Lim are counsels Baldev Singh and Kelvin Wong, while Ag Mohd Tahir and Fauziah were represented by counsel Datuk Ansari Abdullah.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, Haresh Prakash Somiah and Zander Lim appeared for the prosecution.
Trial adjourned to November 11. — Daily Express
