KUALA LUMPUR (April 13): Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the High Court that he started his charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi because he had disposable income from his RM120,000 salary to use for charitable purposes.
Testifying in the defence stage of his criminal trial where he is charged with 47 charges involving criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering charges in relation to the charitable fund, Zahid said that in 1997, he was earning RM120,000 a month.
“At that time, I was earning RM120,000 a month and I used roughly RM30,000 to RM40,000 for myself and my family, and the rest I used for charitable purposes and religious donations,” he said in reading his sworn testimony before Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Wednesday (April 13).
Zahid said that he was earning RM120,000 a month from being the chairman of Bank Simpanan Nasional as well as the chief executive officer (CEO) of four different companies.
He said he was the CEO of Kretam Holdings Bhd, Tekala Corp Bhd, Ramatex Bhd dan Seng Hup Bhd.
“My monthly earnings from salaries, allowances and bonuses from all five entities were roughly about RM120,000 a month,” he said.
“My impression was that I had this salary to give for the well-being of the rakyat,” he said, adding that charity had been his life’s motto.
He added that it was his parents’ wish for him to begin a charity foundation to help others.
The Bagan Datuk Member of Parliament said that this was why he decided to start a charitable foundation that year known as “Yayasan Budi”, which was later changed to “Yayasan Akalbudi”.
“The reason I started Yayasan Budi was to conduct religious and charitable works for all people who need it and not just the people of Bagan Datuk only,” he said.
He further testified that he had never asked anyone to use funds from Yayasan Akalbudi for his own personal use.
“I state that I had never ordered anyone to use Yayasan Akalbudi funds for my private use,” he said.
The Umno president has opted to testify under oath from the witness stand, with the prosecution given the opportunity to question the accused during cross-examination.
Zahid also testified that his current salary from the government per month is RM50,000 as well as returns on investment of RM50,000 a month.
He also declared that he had RM2 million in savings in his Bank Islam account.
On Jan 24, Justice Sequerah ordered Zahid to enter his defence on the 12 CBT charges, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to the foundation.
The judge ruled that the prosecution had proven all the ingredients of all the charges and successfully made out a prima facie case against the accused.
On March 19, 2021, the prosecution closed its case after calling 99 witnesses, including Zahid’s former special officer Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, legal firm Lewis & Co partner B Muralidharan, money changer Omar Ali Abdullah and Zahid’s former executive secretary Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly.
The trial began on Nov 18, 2019.
For the CBT charges, Zahid was alleged to have used the funds to make six payments for his personal credit card usage, insurance policy and licences for his personal vehicles, remittances to a law firm and contributions to the Royal Malaysia Police Football Association.
The offences were allegedly committed at the Affin Bank Bhd branch on Jalan Bunus, off Jalan Masjid India here, between Jan 13, 2014 and Dec 23, 2016.
The charges, under Section 409 of the Penal Code, provide for a jail term of between two and 20 years, and with whipping and a fine upon conviction.
Zahid was also charged with eight counts of bribery, where he was alleged to have accepted bribes from three companies, namely Mastoro Kenny IT Consultant & Services, Datasonic Group Bhd and Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd, as an inducement for him, in his capacity as the home minister then, to help the companies to obtain MyEG projects, supply passport chips and to be appointed as the operator of the migrant visa one-stop centres in Pakistan and Nepal respectively.
He was charged with committing the offences, framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, at the Maybank branch at Dataran Maybank on Jalan Maarof, Bangsar here between July 15, 2016 and March 15, 2018.
Zahid also faces 27 charges of money laundering by engaging in direct transactions involving income from illegal activities between March 29, 2016 and April 11, 2018.
All the offences were allegedly committed at Malayan Banking Bhd, the Dataran Maybank branch, Level 1, Tower A, No. 1 Jalan Maarof, Bangsar and Marhaba Enterprise Sdn Bhd, LG 1.15, Fahrenheit88, 179 Jalan Bukit Bintang here between March 29, 2016 and April 11, 2018.