Kota Kinabalu: The younger brother of former State Water Department director Datuk Ag Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib told the Special Corruption Court on Thursday that statements made by a prosecution witness implicating him in Sabah Water Department (JANS) projects were not true.
Ag Mohd Fauzi @ Ugi Mohd Talib, 53, was giving evidence for the defence before Judge Abu Bakar Manat, with counsel Datuk Ansari Abdullah conducting the examination.
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Ansari referred Fauzi to a portion of the witness statement by prosecution witness and former Sabah Water Department deputy director Teo Chee Kong, in which Teo alleged that Fauzi had approached him to seek additional budget allocations for Kota Kinabalu projects through Fauzi’s brother, Datuk Ag Mohd Tahir.
Teo further alleged that Fauzi had delivered a budget application letter prepared by him to JANS headquarters, and that the additional allocations were subsequently approved by Ag Mohd Tahir, with the funds allegedly channelled quickly to the Kota Kinabalu division.
Teo also stated that Ag Mohd Tahir had never informed him of receiving monetary contributions from relatives.
Asked whether Teo’s statement was true, Fauzi replied: “Not true.”
Fauzi further denied ever having any dealings with Teo during his time as a JANS contractor and said he did not receive any work from JANS Kota Kinabalu.
When asked to clarify where he obtained JANS-related work, Fauzi said he usually received contracts or quotations from districts, including Keningau, Tuaran, Ranau and Membakut.
Fauzi told the court that when he was awarded contracts or quotations by district offices, he was asked to make payments to district engineers or JANS staff, although he was unsure of the exact percentage.
Asked who requested the payments, Fauzi said it was the district engineers.
Fauzi confirmed that he was aware of his brother’s arrest in relation to the case but said he himself was not arrested either together with or after Ag Mohd Tahir.
However, he said he was called to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office to assist in investigations for about two weeks, although he could not recall the names of the officers involved.
He further testified that after he stopped operating his business, his office was broken into.
He said he took photographs of the break-in, which were tendered by the defence and marked as exhibits. Fauzi said the photographs were taken around 2021, and that items stolen included office equipment, documents and electrical items such as air-conditioners.
During cross-examination by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, Fauzi agreed that he came to court at the request of Ag Mohd Tahir and confirmed that he is the eighth child in the family, while Ag Mohd Tahir is the third. He also agreed that Fauziah Piut is his sister-in-law and that their family relationship is close.
However, Fauzi did not fully agree with the suggestion that he was deeply indebted to his brother and sister-in-law, or that the charges against them had an especially heavy impact on him and his extended family.
When it was suggested that, due to his close relationship and indebtedness, Fauzi would do anything to help his brother and sister-in-law, including giving evidence in court, Fauzi disagreed.
Mahadi referred Fauzi to his earlier testimony in which he admitted that payments were requested by district engineers when he received JANS contracts and when asked to confirm whether this had indeed occurred, Fauzi agreed.
However, Fauzi disagreed with the prosecution’s suggestion that the total payments made to district and divisional engineers amounted to between 27.5 and 30 per cent of the total project value, and also denied that such payments were made after he received payments approved by JANS headquarters.
When asked who served as JANS director between 2006 and 2015, Fauzi said it was Ag Mohd Tahir.
Mahadi further suggested that after Fauzi paid district and divisional engineers, 10.75 per cent was channelled into a so-called “Centralised Collection Scheme”, with Ag Mohd Tahir being the largest recipient, Fauzi disagreed.
Fauzi told the court that between 2006 and 2016, he estimated receiving between 30 and 50 projects from JANS through his company or companies under his control, although he could not recall the total value of the projects.
When questioned on how he could estimate paying RM12 million to Ag Mohd Tahir if he could not remember the project values, Fauzi said the figure was only an estimate, as stated in his witness statement, and that he did not have documents to confirm the exact amount.
He estimated his own profit at about RM4 million to RM5 million, agreeing that Ag Mohd Tahir’s share was larger because his brother had provided substantial business capital, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of ringgit.
Asked whether he knew the source of the capital given that Ag Mohd Tahir’s net salary at the time was below RM4,000, Fauzi said he did not know.
Fauzi agreed that he was unable to provide detailed particulars to the court regarding specific projects, project values, profits or payment timelines due to the absence of documents, adding that all company documents were seized by MACC in 2016.
When it was suggested that the RM12 million paid to Ag Mohd Tahir must have originated from JANS projects, Fauzi said most of it came from JANS but clarified during re-examination that not all the money was derived from JANS, as he also had other projects unrelated to the department, including work obtained through fellow contractors.
Fauzi also agreed that no police report had been produced in court regarding the office break-in, explaining during re-examination that he did not lodge a report as the incident occurred during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period and he only became aware of it sometime later.
When the prosecution put it to him that his testimony was illogical and fabricated to protect his brother and sister-in-law, Fauzi disagreed, maintaining during re-examination that his answers were truthful.
He also disagreed with the suggestion that he was investigated by MACC for attempting to conceal the flow of JANS payments to Ag Mohd Tahir, explaining that the money in question represented legitimate business profits, not an attempt to hide any transactions.
Ag Mohd Tahir, his wife Fauziah Ag Piut as second accused and former State Water Department Deputy Director Lim Lam Beng are currently on trial for multiple money-laundering charges involving RM61.57 million, as well as unlawful possession of luxury goods between October and November 2016.
Earlier, in his witness statement, Fauzi stated that he is the younger brother of Datuk Ag Mohd Tahir and had been his business partner.
Fauzi said he first approached his brother to express interest in becoming a contractor and undertaking development work in Sabah, and that Ag Mohd Tahir was supportive.
He established a company, Mekar Enterprise (KMSE), around 2006 as a small-scale contractor, and continued doing business with his brother until about 2015 or 2016.
He said the business involved development works and that his brother provided capital, estimated in the hundreds of thousands of ringgit in cash. Profits were shared in cash, which he estimated to total around RM12 million.
Fauzi told the court that Ag Mohd Tahir never obtained any Sabah Water Department (JANS) projects or contracts for their business, and that he personally sourced work by approaching district engineers.
He said KMSE had an office in Alamesra, which was visited by the MACC, who seized documents relating to his business dealings with his brother. He said the documents had never been returned.
Ansari also represented Fauziah while counsel Datuk Tan Hock Chuan and Baldev Singh represented Lim.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Mahadi Abdul Jumaat and Haresh Prakash Somiah appeared for the prosecution.
Trial continues.
