The defence team in the corruption trial involving Dr Mohd Khir Toyo challenged the credibility of key witness Sham-suddin Hayroni in its submissions to the High Court here.
Lawyer M. Athimulan, representing the former Selangor mentri besar, said Shamsuddin, the Dita-mas Sdn Bhd director, had made contradictory statements that suggested he was not a credible witness.
“Shamsuddin was investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com-mission (MACC) and had his statements recorded in 2009.
“But when testifying in court, he contradicted the statement he gave in 2009 on three accounts,” he said, adding that Shamsuddin had committed perjury. “To what extent can his testimony be relied on?”
He said Shamsuddin had also claimed that RM3.5mil was too low a price for a bungalow and two plots of land to be sold to Dr Khir.
“However, Shamsuddin said in another testimony that he wanted to sell the properties at RM5.5mil and offer a discount,” Athimulan said.
Another defence counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin said that when Shamsuddin bought the property in 2004, there was no valuation pricing it at RM6.5mil.
He further submitted that Dr Khir could not have known that it was valued at a price higher than RM3.5mil.
Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Wahab Mohamad, however, submitted it was unreasonable for the purchase of the properties to be based on a “willing buyer, willing seller” agreement.
“It is not reasonable because the price of the property sold (to Dr Khir) is almost less than half of the price that Shamsuddin paid for it (RM6.5mil),” he said.
He added there were no facts showing that Shamsuddin had sold it because he was having financial problems.
High Court judge Justice Mohtaru-din Baki fixed Aug 8 to deliver his decision as to whether Dr Khir would be called to enter his defence or be freed of the corruption charge.
Source : The Star
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