Zahid VLN trial: 'KJ', 'Bomoh' written in UKSB payment ledger

SHAH ALAM - The High Court was told today that the initial ‘KJ’ and ‘bomoh’ were among words written in a ledger owned by Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) that was submitted as evidence in the corruption trial of former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Former UKSB director Harry Lee Vui Khun said this during cross-examination by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, representing Ahmad Zahid, when the ledger was referred to him.

The ledger contains details of payments made by the company to several individuals between 2014 and 2018.

Asked if he (Lee) could confirm that the initial ‘KJ’ referred to Khairy Jamaluddin, the witness replied: "That, I am not sure.” Ahmad Zaidi: I presume you know that Wan Quoris (UKSB director, Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani) used to work with KJ before? Lee: (Whether) he worked with KJ before, I'm not so sure. But I know apparently, he (Wan Quoris Shah) said he knows KJ very well.

In earlier proceedings, Lee, in his witness statement, said Wan Quoris Shah was brought in as a director in UKSB in May 2013 as he was an Umno member and the company needed his clout to help it communicate with Ahmad Zahid, who was the Home Minister at that time.

The witness also had no answer when asked about payments made to an individual listed as ‘bomoh’ in the ledger.

Among the other scribblings in the ledger, besides KJ and bomoh, were KPU, FM, SUB and AK, which the lawyer had suggested to mean ‘ketua pengarah’, Foreign Minister, ‘Setiausaha Bahagian’ and Akbar Khan.

The 15th witness also agreed with Ahmad Zaidi’s suggestion that the payments made to ministers and politicians as listed in the ledger were political contributions.

Lee also confirmed that funds paid to the individuals listed were from the company’s subcontractor in Hong Kong that was appointed to implement the foreign visa system (VLN) on its behalf, adding that the money had never been deposited into UKSB’s bank accounts.

Ahmad Zahid, 69, is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to SG$13.56 million from UKSB for himself as Home Minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of OSC service in China and the supply VLN system as well as to maintain the contract agreement to supply the VLN integrated system to the same company by KDN.

For another seven counts, he was charged with obtaining for himself SG$1,150,000, RM3 million, Euro 15,000 and US$15,000 from the same company which has official links with his official duty.

He was charged with committing all the offences 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 May 30. - BERNAMA