RM17mil in office pantry not mine, says ex-Sabah water dept director

Free Malaysia Today

3 days ago

Former Sabah water department director Ag Mohd Tahir Ag Mohd Talib and two others are on trial for money laundering. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA : A former director of the Sabah water department says the bulk of the RM20 million allegedly discovered by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in his office pantry belonged to someone else.
Ag Mohd Tahir Ag Mohd Talib, 63, told Kota Kinabalu sessions court judge Abu Bakar Manat that only a certain amount in a knapsack was his.
Under cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, Tahir disagreed with the suggestion that he was the only person who had a key to the pantry, reported The Borneo Post.
Mahadi: Was there anything that belonged to someone else in the pantry and inside the knapsack?
Tahir: Only the items inside the knapsack were mine.
Mahadi: So there were items that belonged to someone else in the pantry?
Tahir: Yes.
Mahadi: Can you tell the court what those items were?
Tahir: A large amount of cash.
Tahir also agreed that all items in the knapsack belonged to him.
Under examination-in-chief, Tahir testified that the bulk of the RM20 million allegedly found in the pantry was already there when he went to his office.
He claimed he would keep his money in the pantry from time to time, especially when his brother requested for political donations.
However, Tahir maintained that only RM3 million of the RM20 million belonged to him.
He is on trial with his wife, Fauziah Piut, 58, and the department's former deputy director, Lim Lam Beng @ Lim Chee Hong, 69.
They pleaded not guilty in 2019 to 37 counts of money laundering involving RM61.57 million and the unlawful possession of luxury items.
Tahir faces 11 charges while Fauziah is charged with 19 offences under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The couple is jointly charged on two counts while Tahir faces one other charge.
They are alleged to have committed the offences at an office in Kota Kinabalu, a house in Sembulan, at several bank branches, and a condominium in Sulaman, all in Sabah, as well as in Kuala Lumpur between Oct 4 and Nov 4, 2016.
Lim, who faces four charges, is alleged to have been in possession of cash amounting to RM2.38 million between Oct 13 and Nov 8, 2016.
The trial before judge Abu Bakar resumes on July 23.