Hamzah Zainuddin’s Ex-Aide Demanded RM9mil Cut of Police Project Fee, Court Hears

KUALA LUMPUR, August 19 — A company managing director told the Sessions Court today that he was repeatedly pressured by the former political secretary to a Home Minister to hand over nearly half of his RM19 million consultancy fees linked to a major Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) telecommunications contract.

Testifying as the 15th prosecution witness, Al Khairi Group Berhad Managing Director Datuk Seri Mohd Khairi Mat Jahya, 43, detailed how the accused, Sayed Amir Muzzakkir Al Sayed Mohamad, demanded roughly RM9 million after claiming credit for securing the contract for vendor Nexuscorpgroup Sdn Bhd.

Mohd Khairi stated that Sayed Amir Muzzakkir—who served as political secretary to then Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin—claimed he had introduced him to Nexuscorpgroup owner Wan Azhar Mohamed Yusof and facilitated high-level ministerial access.

The court heard that Mohd Khairi was appointed as a consultant to Nexuscorpgroup under an agreement promising him a five per cent fee of the total contract value if the firm succeeded in obtaining the Home Minister’s consideration for the RMPNet maintenance project.

According to Mohd Khairi, Sayed Amir Muzzakkir arranged an official meeting between him and Hamzah on April 28, 2020. During that meeting, the minister scribbled a notation reading “Datuk KSU for consideration” on Nexuscorpgroup’s supporting letter, referring to the ministry’s secretary-general.

Mohd Khairi testified that he only realized the full magnitude of the contract—valued at RM359,539,662.50 excluding SST—after Nexuscorpgroup officially received the Letter of Acceptance for the Maintenance and Supply of Spare Parts for Infrastructure Equipment, Servers, Software and RMPNet System Radio Users project. The contract value earned Mohd Khairi a consultancy fee of approximately RM19 million.

Following the award of the tender, Sayed Amir Muzzakkir allegedly began making persistent demands for a RM9 million share of the fees, issuing explicit threats when resisted.

“I will block you from meeting the minister if you do not agree to give me my share,” Mohd Khairi quoted the accused as saying during one of the pressure attempts.

The witness further revealed that roughly two months prior to Sayed Amir Muzzakkir’s removal from office, Hamzah personally contacted him to highlight his former political secretary’s alleged misconduct.

“I did not appeal to him not to remove Sayed, even though we were close friends, because in my view it was better that he no longer served as a government officer, given how often he had pressured me. I felt the minister had made the right decision,” Mohd Khairi testified in his written witness statement.

Sayed Amir Muzzakkir, 43, currently faces three corruption charges brought under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

On May 23, 2024, he was charged with two counts of accepting RM350,000 in bribes from Wan Azhar as an inducement to help Nexuscorpgroup secure the RMPNet tender, which was valued at RM381,112,042.44 inclusive of SST. Those offenses allegedly occurred at the Yayasan Tanah Aku office in Solaris Dutamas on December 4 and December 16, 2020.

He is also accused of soliciting a separate RM350,000 bribe from Wan Azhar at Nexuscorpgroup’s office in Shah Alam in early December 2020. If convicted, each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

The trial before Sessions Court Judge Rosli Ahmad resumes tomorrow.

-NMT