By Timothy Achariam & Justin Cheng | The Edge Malaysia
A Maybank officer told the High Court on Monday that four RM200,000 cheque payments totalling RM800,000 into Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s bank account were transparent and consistent with the party’s constitution governing financial contributions.
Maybank operations officer Chang Hui Lin, the sixth prosecution witness in Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s corruption trial, agreed during cross-examination that the transactions complied with Clause 24.2 of Bersatu’s constitution, which requires all financial contributions or assets to the party to be declared and deposited into the party’s account.
Muhyiddin’s counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad asked Chang:
Amer: Can we say that those four transactions were transparent?
Chang: Agree.
Amer: Who were the recipients of the cheques?
Chang: Bersatu.
Amer: So is it consistent with Clause 24.2 that the financial contributions must be kept in the party’s account?
Chang: Agree.
The funds were credited in 2022 through four separate cheques issued by KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd.
Chang also testified that records from KCJ Engineering’s account opening application showed its directors as being Zulhelmi Mairin @ Kunting and Hafizam Abdul Halim, while the authorised signatories were Zulhelmi, Azman Yusoff, and Zaid Yusoff.
She said Zulhelmi and Zaid Yusoff had signed the cheques.
Earlier proceedings on March 11 had heard testimony from an AmBank officer who told the court that RM6 million had been deposited into Bersatu’s accounts in multiple transactions via cheques over several months.
The witness, Nor Paizah Osman, the then-assistant manager at AmBank Amcorp Mall branch, had said that the funds had been credited in instalments during February, May, October, and November 2022, including RM2 million on Feb 21, 2022, and several RM500,000 deposits on later dates.
A CIMB bank manager had also previously testified that Bersatu’s accounts had received RM19.3 million through 28 cheques between August 2021 and November 2022.
The trial continues on Thursday, April 16.
Muhyiddin, 78, who had been the 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, which is 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 (AMLA), which is 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.
Edited By Aniza Damis
