Zahid gratification trial: New contract between gov't and Datasonic never signed
Former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi's trial on receiving gratification was tense today after the Kuala Lumpur High Court was told that there's no contract signed between the government and Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB).
The matter arose when Ahmad Zahid's counsel Ahmad Zaidi Zainal questioned the 30th witness Uzailee Abdul Latif on the direct negotiation contract of supplying 12.5 million passport chips for five years from Dec 2016 to Nov 2021.
Former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi's trial on receiving gratification was tense today after the Kuala Lumpur High Court was told that there's no contract signed between the government and Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB).
The matter arose when Ahmad Zahid's counsel Ahmad Zaidi Zainal questioned the 30th witness Uzailee Abdul Latif on the direct negotiation contract of supplying 12.5 million passport chips for five years from Dec 2016 to Nov 2021.
Zaidi had suggested to the former finance ministry deputy secretary-general that the contract was not new but instead it was continued from an old contract which was awarded to DTSB, as well as to other companies Iris and Percetakan Keselamatan Nasional Sdn Bhd (PKN).
Uzailee, however, disagreed with the suggestion.
According to Uzailee, before the supply of the chips handed over to DTSB, the chips production contract was given to Iris, while passport books production supplied by PKN.
DTSB, on the other hand, supplied polycarbonates for the Malaysian passport.
Zaidi later referred the new contract to Uzailee and said that the contract was never signed.
Zaidi: Go to the signature page. Based on that page, the contract was not decided by any party.
Uzailee: To my knowledge, it was yet to be decided.
Zaidi: If the contract was not signed, was it a legitimate contract?
Uzailee: No, it's not that it's not legitimate, (but) there's no contract.
Zaidi: There's no contract? Even better.
However, when questioned if all procedures were followed in doing the contract, Uzailee said "yes".
Uzailee also explained that certain criteria were taken into consideration in regard to the direct negotiation contract such as the national security and the lack of the availability of other supplier.
However, the contract could only be approved and awarded by the Ministry of Finance, and not other ministries including the Home Ministry which was then helmed by Ahmad Zahid.
Ahmad Zahid was accused of receiving two cheques amounting to RM6 million from the managing director and the major shareholder of the DGB Chew Ben Ben to obtain the supply of passport chips contract worth RM318.65 million.
Cross-examination
During the cross-examination by the deputy public prosecutor Gan Peng Kun, Uzailee was asked to explain on the alleged unsigned contract raised by Zaidi.
Uzailee then explained that the process of signing a contract takes a long time and therefore the MOF had issued an acceptance letter so that works could proceed before the signing of a formal contract which would take up to four months after the acceptance letter issued.
Earlier, in his witness statement, Uzailee said that he had produced a letter to the Home Ministry to comment on the application of the direct negotiation by DTSB to supply passport chips for five years.
However, the Home Ministry had replied that it wanted to continue with the existing contract with PKN and Iris based on their excellent track records.
The ministry also noted on the DTSB's poor performance as it was always late in supplying polycarbonates which further caused a problem to the Immigration Department, he said.
Uzailee said that MOF had approved the appointment of DTSB to supply the passport chips for five years or 12.5 million chips which would be inserted into the biodata page of the polycarbonated passport.
The contract was in a form of direct negotiation after DTSB passed the proof of concept and obtained certificates from the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department.
Ahmad Zahid faces 47 charges, 12 of them are criminal breach of trust involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds, eight on receiving gratification and 27 on money laundering.
