Testifying as the prosecution’s 13th witness in the corruption trial of Tahir and two others, Adam Breimo said Tahir had supported him when he was going through a divorce in 2011.
“And based on that trust, I was not concerned he (Tahir) will not be able to repay the car loan,” Adam, who is a director of Gussmann Technologies Sdn Bhd, said in response to a question by deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat.
Tahir, 58, is on trial together with his wife Fauziah Piut, 55, and former state water department deputy director Lim Lam Beng, 66. The trio had on Dec 29, 2016 pleaded not guilty to 37 counts of money laundering involving RM61.57 million.
Adam, who resides in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, said he first met Tahir in 2006 after opening a booth at the Asia Water Exhibition.
Later, in 2011, he said, Tahir asked to meet him and subsequently requested to use his name to buy a car as well as to utilise credit facilities from the bank as he had a good track record with Maybank.
Adam added that in early August the same year, Tahir asked for his help to go to the Audi Centre showroom in Bukit Bintang as he intended to buy a car.
A salesman then requested for Adam’s personal documents in order to process the bank loan so that Tahir could purchase a red-coloured Audi 1.4 TFSI, with the registration plate number SAB66F.
Adam said he had insisted that Tahir pay a large down payment but was unsure how much was actually paid by Tahir.
After the purchase was completed, Adam said Tahir made arrangements to send the car back to Sabah on his own. He added that he did not bother about things like the road tax, car insurance and maintenance because these were managed by Tahir.
“I have never used the car as I was not interested in the vehicle. It was used by Tahir.”
To a question by the prosecution on the actual price of the car, he said it could be RM160,000, adding that he never faced any problem with the bank since its purchase.
Cross-examined by Tahir’s counsel Marcel Jude, Adam denied that the real reason he had “bought” the car was because he wanted a contract from the Sabah water department.
He also disagreed with the defence counsel that he had actually bought the car but did not transfer it to Tahir because he never got the government contract and that he wanted to sell off the car in order to get his money back.
Jude is also representing Fauziah while Tan Hock Chuan, Baldev Singh and Karpaljit Singh appeared for Lim in the trial, which entered its fourth day, before Judge Abu Bakar Manat.