THE RM2 million given by Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to Tadmansori Holdings Sdn Bhd was marked as “offset of account” in the firm’s official ledger, the high court heard today.

Rabiatul Adawiyah Sobri, who is an accountant and finance assistant manager at the company, said the funds were treated as an advance from the former Federal Territories minister, who is Tadmansori Holdings’ biggest shareholder.

When defence lawyer Tan Hock Chuan asked her to explain what “offset of account” means, Rabiatul said: “It means the money was paid by Tengku Adnan to the company.

“I did not put it in the official records that the money was from Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd, as there had been no business relationship between the companies.”

She said Tadmansori Holdings also received RM40,000 from Umno as a rental deposit.

“Tadmansori Holdings never made payments to Umno. The company received RM40,000 from the party because they rented our warehouse.”

Earlier, Tadmansori Holdings chief operating officer Hasbi Jaafar testified that he was personally told by Tengku Adnan that the money from Aset Kayamas was a political donation.

“It is true. Tengku Adnan told me so,” said the prosecution witness when questioned by Tan.

Hasbi said Tengku Adnan sent him a WhatsApp message with a photo of the cheque for the sum.

“The cheque was issued by Aset Kayamas, but there was no business relationship (between Aset Kayamas and) Tadmansori Holdings.”

Yesterday, Tengku Adnan’s driver, Nik Yahaya Nik Mustapha, told the court that he was instructed to cash a RM2 million cheque to Tadmansori Holdings.

He said he did not know the purpose of the payment.

“I received the cheque, dated June 14, 2016, from Aset Kayamas for RM2 million from Tengku Adnan on that day in his office.

“I was instructed to deposit the cheque to Tadmansori Holdings.”

According to the charge sheet, the RM2 million was given through a Hong Leong Islamic Bank cheque belonging to Aset Kayamas that was deposited into Tadmansori Holdings’ CIMB Bank account.

Tengku Adnan allegedly committed the offence at CIMB Bank’s Pusat Bandar Damansara branch on June 14, 2016. The charge, under Section 165 of the Penal Code, provides for a jail term of up to two years, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

Tengku Adnan faces another charge of accepting a bribe of RM1 million from businessman Tan Eng Boon to raise the plot ratio for a project in Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur, in 2013.

The second case will be heard before justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali starting September 3. – July 3, 2019.