KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Businessman Lian Tan Chuan today said that his Bumiputera construction company Nepturis Sdn Bhd had in 2022 given RM1 million as a “reward” to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, as he was told that its party president and then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had “helped” the company secure a RM141 million project under the government’s Jana Wibawa programme.
Testifying in the High Court as the 21st prosecution witness in Muhyiddin’s power abuse and money laundering trial, Lian explained that Nepturis’ RM1 million cheque to Bersatu in February 2022 was due to the Bumiputera contractor winning the project to build the Klang Utara district police headquarters (IPD).
“So, that one, because we got the IPD Klang Utara, and Parti Pribumi Bersatu, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin already helped, then we paid lah the RM1 million reward,” he told lead prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
In comparison to smaller sums of RM5,000 and RM10,000 donations sought by Bersatu member Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad for social work, Lian said the RM1 million donation amount to Bersatu requested by Malaysia’s Bumiputera contractors’ association president Datuk Azman Yusoff was a “very big” amount.
Lian previously said that he had agreed to Azman’s request to pay the RM1 million to Bersatu after Nepturis got the project.
Later when asked by High Court judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin on why he had said Muhyiddin had “helped”, Lian replied: “Because Azman and Adam told me that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had already helped”.
Lian previously said that he was introduced by Azman to Adam Radlan, and that Azman had said the Bersatu man was a golf buddy and close friend of Muhyiddin who could help get Jana Wibawa projects.
Lian today said that he had obtained information about the IPD Klang Utara project under Jana Wibawa from Adam Radlan, saying: “Adam was the one who proposed to me”.
Nepturis had on February 1, 2021 participated in a “pre-qualification” or limited tender with only four other associated companies for the IPD Klang Utara project, with Lian previously testifying that he had given all five companies’ letters of interest to join in the tender to Adam Radlan to be passed to Muhyiddin.
On January 12, 2022, Nepturis won the project.
Nepturis on February 16, 2022 issued a RM1 million cheque to Bersatu, and this was deposited into the party’s AmBank account on February 21, 2022.
Earlier today, Lian agreed with Muhyiddin’s lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad that he has never met and does not know Muhyiddin personally.
Lian also confirmed that Muhyiddin had never asked him for any donations for Muhyiddin himself or for Bersatu.
Amer: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, until now, never contacted you, asked you for any donation. Not even for himself or Bersatu.
Lian: Agree.
Lian agreed that he did not notify Muhyiddin when he donated to Bersatu, further agreeing that this means Muhyiddin did not even know that he or Nepturis had donated to Bersatu.
Lian said he did not request and also did not receive any receipt from Bersatu for the RM1 million donation, but agreed that it was not a donation made “surreptitiously” and that the donation could be found by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigators in Nepturis’ bank statement.
Among other things, Lian agreed with Amer that he had felt obliged to donate to Bersatu as requested by Azman and Adam, as he felt indebted to both of them and felt that they had helped him, and as he believed both of them were Bersatu members.
Amer however said that Azman is actually not a Bersatu member, with Lian saying that he did not know this.
Lian said Adam’s request for political donation to Bersatu was for matters such as social work and to support golf tournaments, and said he had given money as sincere donations with “no strings attached”.
In this trial, Muhyiddin is facing seven charges, namely four counts of alleged power abuse to obtain RM225.3 million in bribes for his party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (from Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Azman Yusoff, KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd), and three counts of alleged money laundering involving money that Bersatu received from Bukhary Equity.
The trial resumes tomorrow.
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Date: 20 August, 2026 4:43 pm
Source: Malay Mail
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