Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo said a seven-page statement recorded from Ewe Swee Kheng at the MACC office in Penang on Aug 14 was mostly handwritten by recording officer Mohd Nazri Mohd Mansor.

“Half of Page 7 is computer-generated, including the column where Ewe signed,” Gobind said in his submission following an application today by the prosecution to admit the statement as evidence.

He said “something is not right” with the recording, and the only reasonable explanation was that the statement was a fabrication.

“The statement was improperly taken and inadmissible as evidence as the requirements under Section 30 of the MACC Act were not fulfilled,” he said.

The prosecution is attempting to admit a deceased’s statement under Section 54 of the MACC Act.

It was reported that Ewe died after he fell from his 16-storey luxury condominium unit in Penang on Oct 5 and landed in a swimming pool.

Gobind said Ewe had given several statements to MACC between July 3 and July 24 last year which exonerated Lim from the charges, especially on criminal misappropriation of property.

Gobind, who had earlier cross-examined Nazri, further submitted that Ewe was asked to appear at the MACC office and was taken to the auditorium to prepare a witness statement to be used in this trial.

He said Nazri then took Ewe to the ground floor as the businessman wanted to give a “further statement”.

“The witness could have given the statement at the auditorium where a deputy public prosecutor and the investigation officer of the case were present,” he said.

He said the defence was questioning the authenticity of the statement because it was not recorded on video.

“Nazri testified the recording is not mandatory as it is not in the MACC standard operating procedure,” he said.

He said the burden was on the prosecution to prove the authenticity of the statement and the defence merely had to create doubt.

Deputy public prosecutor Francis Cheryl Rajen submitted that Section 54 was an exception to the hearsay rule and, as such, Ewe’s statement could be accepted as evidence.

“We have proved that Ewe is dead and the (Aug 14) statement was recorded in compliance with the MACC Act,” she said.

She said the statement was not something incredible nor was it created.

“The deceased signed on every page of the statement. Nazri had also cautioned him before the recording started,” she said.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shahruddin Wan Ladin further submitted that Ewe had not been coerced to give the statement.

“The defence has failed to challenge the prosecution’s contention that the statement is authentic and admissible as evidence,” he said.

Sessions court judge Azura Alwi will deliver her ruling on Dec 13.

Lim is charged with using his position as chief minister to ask Consortium Zenith-BUCG director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli for a 10% cut of the profits from the undersea tunnel project, and accepting RM3.3 million in kickbacks from the businessman.

He is also accused of two counts of dishonestly misappropriating RM208.7 million worth of state land to two companies.