Former home affairs ministry deputy secretary-general (policy and control) Suriani Ahmad, 54, said PRSB had conformed to all the standard operating procedures to obtain a contract from the government, just like any other firm would.
She said PRSB was appointed as an OSC operator in Pakistan and Nepal after the company’s permit to run OSC in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for Malaysian visa processing applications was cancelled on Nov 11, 2015.
“PRSB sent a letter of appeal to (then) prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to reconsider the cancellation that had been imposed on PRSB. An appeal letter was also issued to home minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi by PRSB at the time,” she said when reading her witness statement.
The fourth defence witness said Zahid then called Shahril Ismail, the divisional secretary (immigration affairs division) at the ministry, and a meeting was held to discuss the appeal by PRSB.
Suriani said she and then ministry secretary-general Alwi Ibrahim were present at the meeting and during the discussion, Zahid referred to the minutes of the letter from Najib which stated that a second chance should be given to PRSB if it had not done anything wrong.
“The discussion found that the problem occurred because the office of the Malaysian high commissioner had not given the approval for PRSB to begin operating the OSC in Dhaka, and that it was not PRSB’s mistake. The committee (then) decided to give PRSB a second chance to operate the OSC in Pakistan and Nepal,” she said.
Zahid is accused of eight charges of corruption relating to bribes received from three companies – Mastoro Kenny IT Consultant & Services, Datasonic Group Bhd and Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd – as an inducement to help the companies secure several projects.
The Bagan Datuk MP, who was the home minister at the time, is accused of committing the acts at the Maybank branch at Dataran Maybank, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, between July 15, 2016, and March 15, 2018, according to Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
The trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Oct 31.