PUTRAJAYA (March 9): Former prime minister and Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to be charged in court on Friday (March 10).
Berita Harian reported on Thursday that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed this when contacted.
“He will not be taken to court today (Thursday). It is likely he will be charged tomorrow,” Azam was quoted as saying.
He added that the anti-graft body would issue a press statement on the matter soon.
Muhyiddin, the president of PN component party Bersatu, arrived at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Thursday, greeted by a swarm of the coalition’s supporters.
Muhyiddin announced his prearranged visit to the MACC on Wednesday, when he took to Facebook to address a report regarding his alleged arrest.
In the social media post, Muhyiddin denied a report by a portal that he had been arrested at a golf course in Selangor, dubbing it fake news.
Back in February, Muhyiddin was summoned to the headquarters of the anti-corruption body to record his statement regarding the Jana Wibawa projects introduced during his time as the PM.
At the time, he was reported as saying that he was called up by the anti-graft watchdog, not as a suspect but to provide his statement concerning the awards of the projects to selected contractors.
The Jana Wibawa programme, or “Program Jana Ekonomi Pemerkasaan Kontraktor Bumiputera Berwibawa” in Malay, was introduced to expedite project execution post Covid-19 pandemic. To facilitate the implementation, the government resorted to either pre-qualification tenders or direct awards.
The MACC has been hot on Bersatu’s heels regarding the Jana Wibawa projects, as just last month the commission froze the political party’s accounts as part of an investigation under the MACC Act 2009 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.
It was reported that the probe concerns political donations, which amounted to more than RM300 million, from contractors who procured various public projects when the party helmed the government.
Later the same month, two individuals linked to Bersatu were charged in court with soliciting and accepting bribes of up to millions in ringgit in relation to the programme.
The two individuals, former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan and the party’s deputy division chief for Segambut Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad, have denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said told the Dewan Rakyat that 56 projects under Jana Wibawa received letters of acceptance with a cumulative contract value totalling RM6.3 billion.
Of those, RM5.7 billion worth of projects have been postponed, subject to review of the procurement process, according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.