This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on December 3, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his wife Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis’ AmBank credit card statements between December 2013 and January 2016, which were revealed in the High Court here yesterday, gave a glimpse into the couple’s luxurious lifestyle.

They spent RM1,296,716 during this period, of which the biggest sum paid was RM175,011.55 on Jan 2, 2015 for a luxurious stay at The Address Dubai Mall Hotel, Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. This was reflected on Ahmad Zahid’s credit card. Less than a week before that, during Christmas of 2014, the then home minister spent RM30,780.81 at the same hotel.

The second largest transaction, which amounted to RM97,911.72, was made by Hamidah at Stefano Ricci, New York on May 29, 2015, the same day she spent RM17,252.34 at Burberry in New York. The following day, Hamidah spent RM45,095.60 at Brioni in New York, and another RM32,401.48 at Stefano Ricci again.

About six months later on Nov 13, 2015, Hamidah spent RM58,433.31 at Loro Piana in London.

These were revealed when prosecution witness Yeoh Eng Leong, AmBank’s senior vice-president of credit card authorisation and fraud control, was called to verify credit card statements of four credit cards that belonged to the couple during the trial of Ahmad Zahid’s criminal breach of trust, bribery, and money laundering. The case is being heard before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

As Yeoh verified the credit card statements, he said the couple never disputed any of the transactions recorded under these cards.

Yeoh also testified that AmBank, on Sept 30, 2013, issued two cards to Ahmad Zahid, namely an AmIslamic Bank Visa Infinite ending 0344, and an AmIslamic Bank World MasterCard ending 1095.

In addition, Yeoh said the bank approved two supplementary credit cards to Hamidah as Ahmad Zahid’s spouse. These cards comprise an AmIslamic Bank Visa Infinite ending with 0419, and an AmIslamic Bank World MasterCard ending with 1137, which were subsequently replaced due to a credit card chip malfunction on March 17, 2015.

The replaced supplementary cards were a Visa Infinite ending with 3337, and a World MasterCard ending with 3788. Ahmad Zahid and his wife’s cards have a combined credit limit of RM250,000, Yeoh said.

Yeoh said Ahmad Zahid made 37 payments using local cheques for expenditures made using these cards during the December 2013 to January 2016 period, of which two cheques were returned. The bank received RM534,412.52 in 2014, RM708,134.47 in 2015, and RM54,168.99 in January 2016.