KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 28): FGV Holdings Bhd chief internal auditor Zalily Mohamed Zaman Khan, testifying in the suit filed by the group against former top officials Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad and Datuk Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah, admitted that she has no direct personal knowledge of the documents attached to her witness statement.

The documents include letters of offer sent by Turris Links Sdn Bhd and its solicitors, Ummul Habibah & Asilah, to Mohd Emir for the acquisition of the two luxury condominium units at The Troika KLCC.

FGV’s suit against its former chairman Mohd Isa and former president and group CEO Mohd Emir concerns the acquisition of the condominiums.

The plantation group claims that the condominiums were bought at an inflated price. The civil suit also concerns the alleged misuse of company cars and petrol benefits by Mohd Emir.

Under Section 73A of the Evidence Act 1950, any statement made by a person in a document tending to establish a fact will only be admissible if the maker of the statement had personal knowledge of the matters dealt with by the statement.  

During cross-examination by Mohd Emir's lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon today, Zalily agreed that she had no personal knowledge over the documents she retrieved during her investigation.

In 2017, Zalily was tasked by the new FGV board of directors to lead an investigation into the acquisition of the two condominiums.

Manjeet: Other than your professional qualifications and who the two defendants are, everything else contained in your witness statement is a result of extraction of information from other documents.

Zalily: Yes.

Manjeet: And you have no direct personal knowledge of the rest of the information contained in your witness statement.

Zalily: Yes.

When approached by the theedgemarkets.com later, Manjeet said that as the group's chief internal auditor, Zalily did not produce any reports from her investigation and as such her statement is not admissible in court.

"The plaintiff’s lawyers did not challenge my point so basically her evidence did not add any weight to their case," he said.

On Nov 30, FGV, as the plaintiff, had stated through a Bursa Malaysia filing that the Troika condominium units were acquired without proper due diligence and through wrongful and unauthorised use by both defendants.

The suit also pertains to the acquisition of a number of cars and their misuse by Mohd Emir, as well as misuse of petrol benefits.

FGV is seeking damages against Mohd Isa and Mohd Emir, including RM4.54 million for the total acquisition, use and possession of the Troika units, and another RM3.14 million in relation to the pool of cars and petrol benefits against Mohd Emir.

The trial before Judicial Commissioner Quay Chew Soon continues tomorrow.