KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): Datuk Seri G Gnanaraja, the key witness in the Penang undersea tunnel trial, has maintained that the RM19 million which he obtained from Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG) and its director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli was a “friendly loan”, despite him being charged for cheating Zarul Ahmad in 2019. The defence in Lim’s trial was testing Gnanaraja’s credibility as a witness when Ramkarpal asserted to the businessman that as a result of the allegations of cheating by Zarul Ahmad, Gnanaraja was considered a fraudster and could not be trusted. In response to questions from Ramkarpal, Gnanaraja also admitted that he had received a letter of demand from Zarul Ahmad’s solicitors from Messrs Shahrul Hamidi and Noh sometime in July 2017. However, when Lim’s defence counsel asserted that the TIC proves that Gnanaraja is a fraudster, Gnanaraja denied the allegation. Lim is on trial for using his position as the then-Penang CM to solicit a 10% cut in the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project’s profits from Zarul Ahmad, in return for aiding Zarul Ahmad’s company to secure the project.

Source: The Edge Markets February 27, 2026 08:25 UTC