A prosecution witness said that the RM2 million payment in 2017 to businessperson G Gnanaraja was meant to help a company executive get closer to then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and to obtain future projects.

Ibrahim Sahari, who used to be a director of Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB), told this to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court during today’s corruption trial of Lim Guan Eng linked to the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel project.

The company executive in question is CZCSB senior executive director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, who, alongside Gnanaraja and Ibrahim, are prosecution...