A “friend” of then-Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng promised land as part payment for feasibility studies into the island state’s RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court heard.

Consortium Zenith Construction director Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli claimed the promise was given by the late businessperson Ewe Swee Kheng in 2013.

The key prosecution witness in the project-linked graft trial...