According to the witness, he approved the sale as it complied with legal requirements with the intention of increasing affordable housing

by BERNAMA / pic by TMR FILE

THE Kuala Lumpur (KL) High Court yesterday was told how former Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (picture) was involved in the sale of two lots of KL City Hall (DBKL) land in Bandar Tun Razak to property developer Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd.

Former DBKL Property Management and Valuation Department (JPPH) director Kamariah Ibrahim, 62, said this in her testimony when replying to deputy public prosecutor Haderiah Siri on the fifth day of Tengku Adnan’s RM2 million corruption case.

“I am not denying the fact that there was involvement by the minister (Tengku Adnan) in the land sale involving Aset Kayamas,” she said.

Haderiah had asked what was Tengku Adnan’s involvement in the land sale to Aset Kayamas, to which Kamariah replied: “(In) the early stages, there was correspondence from the developer, Aset Kayamas, to JPPH and there were instruction notes such as ‘please agree’ and ‘please handle’ written by Tengku Adnan.

“Towards the final stages, the minister approved the sale of the land as it complied with legal requirements with the intention of increasing affordable housing,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kamariah — when reading out her witness statement — said the offer letter regarding the sale of the two lots of land was issued to Aset Kayamas upon Tengku Adnan’s approval.

The trial’s 14th witness said she instructed her officer, Razalia Khalid, to issue an offer letter after Tengku Adnan signed the letter of certification under Section 101(r) of the Local Government Act 1976 on May 28, 2015. “I confirm that the certification issued by DBKL to dispose of its immovable property, Lot 53427 and Lot 53653, in Bandar Tun Razak, KL, to Aset Kayamas was then signed by Tengku Adnan.

“Once the approval was obtained by Tengku Adnan, I instructed Razalia to issue an offer letter to the company (Aset Kayamas),” she testified.

Kamariah, who had served DBKL since 1980, also confirmed that Tengku Adnan had agreed to the construction of an affordable 41-storey single block apartment project (427 units) including an eight-storey car park, as well as other facilities for the first phase of development.

“For the second phase, the developer had plans to construct a 41-storey apartment block comprising 623 units and an eight-storey car park with facilities. And for the third phase, the developer would construct a training centre hostel for DBKL,” Kamariah said.

Kamariah, who is now retired, said DBKL had no objections to the land sale on the condition that the developer agreed to the construction of a hostel block next to the DBKL Training Institute, totalling 0.5 acres (0.2ha) in land size and according to DBKL’s specifications.

“The developer was required to agree to the sale terms, and among the terms of payment was that it had to pay earnest money totalling RM200,000 within 14 days from the day the offer letter was issued,” she said.

Tengku Adnan was charged in his capacity as a public servant — namely, as the then federal territories minister — to have accepted for himself RM2 million from Chai Kin Kong via a Hong Leong Islamic Bank cheque belonging to Aset Kayamas which was deposited into the CIMB Bank account of Tadmansori Holdings Sdn Bhd in which he had an interest, when it was known that Aset Kayamas had a connection with his official duties.

The offence was allegedly committed at CIMB Bank Bhd’s Pusat Bandar Damansara branch in KL on June 14, 2016.

The charge was framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to two years or fine or both, on conviction.

The hearing, held before Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, continued in the afternoon. — Bernama