This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 7, 2020

SHAH ALAM: Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been offered alternative charges by the prosecution for 33 of his 40 charges of bribery involving the overseas visa (VLN) system.

Ahmad Zahid — accused of receiving bribes as an inducement to award the VLN contract to Syarikat Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd — claimed trial for all the alternative charges at the High Court here yesterday.

The court interpreters took over an hour to read out the 33 charges in Bahasa Malaysia to Ahmad Zahid, 66, who each time replied he understood and pleaded not guilty.

The main difference in the alternative charges, compared to the original charges, is Ahmad Zahid is charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code instead of Section 16 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

Under the Penal Code’s provision, Ahmad Zahid is charged as a civil servant — he was the home affairs minister — for having received without consideration S$13,560,000 relating to the VLN system’s implementation between 2014 and 2017.

For these charges, the punishment is a jail term of up to two years or a fine, or both.

Under the original 33 charges filed under the MACC Act, Ahmad Zahid faces jail of up to 20 years, a fine not less than five times the gratification’s value or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

For 26 of these charges, the former deputy premier is alleged to have received S$9,320,000 from Ultra Kirana as an inducement for him to extend the company’s contract as a VLN one-stop centre (OSC) in China and to maintain an agreement with the company to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia.

For the seven other charges, Ahmad Zahid is accused as a civil servant of corruptly accepting S$1,150,000, RM3,000,000, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from the same company which he knew had connection with his function as the home affairs minister.

When contacted, Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told The Edge Financial Daily that offering alternative charges is part of the prosecution’s strategy.

Judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin fixed Oct 12 to 15, 26 to 28, Nov 2 to 5, 16 to 19, 23 to 26, 30, and Dec 1 to 3 as trial dates for the case.

Besides the 33 charges, Ahmad Zahid has also claimed trial to seven counts of accepting bribes, involving more than S$4.24 million from Ultra Kirana as an inducement to extend the company’s contract in managing the OSC in China and the VLN system.