By Justin Cheng and Timothy Achariam | The Edge Malaysia
CIMB Islamic Bank flagged suspicious transactions in Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s bank account to the financial regulator after detecting tens of millions of ringgit in deposits.
Lee Hui Nee, the finance manager for the bank’s Menara KL Sentral branch, testified as the prosecution’s second witness that the bank had no authority to prevent deposits from being made into the account.
However, the bank’s internal control system would flag transactions involving unusual amounts and trigger the filing of a suspicious transaction report (STR) to Bank Negara Malaysia, she said during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
Wan Shaharuddin: For this case, was any STR raised?
Lee: Yes.
Wan Shaharuddin: What was Bank Negara’s response?
Lee: We do not know. Our job is only to raise it.
Banks in Malaysia are required to file a report on any transactions regardless of the amount, including attempted transactions that appear unusual or illegal, have no clear economic purpose, or do not commensurate with the customer’s profile or business activities.
In the current case, Bersatu received RM19.3 million deposited into the party’s account through 28 cheque transactions between Aug 24, 2021 and Nov 11, 2022.
Lee verified in court that RM4 million of the total amount was deposited via cheque by businessman Datuk Azman Yusoff, while another for RM1 million was deposited by Mamfor Sdn Bhd.
During cross-examination, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin’s defence counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad pointed out that Lee had never been questioned about the STR when she was previously called by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to assist in its investigation into the former prime minister.
Amer: Each time MACC questioned you, did any officer ask you to show any STR report concerning Bersatu?
Lee: No.
Amer: They asked you about STR in court today, but during the investigation they did not ask you about it?
Lee: Agree
Amer: This is the first time you were asked this question?
Lee: Agree.
Amer then asked Lee if she had ever been shown any report from the central bank regarding the matter she answered in the negative, to which he also said it was improper to conclude that it was unlawful since no such STR had been shown in court.
Muhyiddin, 78, who was prime minister and Bersatu president at the time of the alleged offences, faces four charges of using his position to obtain RM225.3 million in bribes linked to the Jana Wibawa project.
The bribes were allegedly obtained from three companies, namely Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, as well as Datuk Azman Yusoff for the party.
The offences were allegedly committed at the Prime Minister’s Office in Perdana Putra, Putrajaya, between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021.
Muhyiddin was charged under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
He also faces three charges of receiving RM200 million in proceeds from unlawful activities from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu’s accounts at Ambank and CIMB Bank branches in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022.
For these charges, he was charged under Section 4(1)(b) read together with Section 87(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, punishable under Section 4(1) of the same Act.
If convicted, he faces imprisonment of up to 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the proceeds of unlawful activities or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
The trial before judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin continues on Wednesday.
Edited By Jason Ng
