AHMAD Zahid Hamidi told the High Court today that the RM65 million Yayasan Akalbudi (YAB) funds allegedly received by him and transferred into the fixed deposit accounts of a legal firm were not illegal money.

Instead the funds received via cheques were charity contributions from individuals and corporate bodies, he added.

“I wish to stress that the funds were not from illegal activities as defined by the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001).”

Zahid, 69, said this when reading his witness statement while defending himself against 47 charges of bribery, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit of YAB funds.

The ex-deputy prime minister said he also did not direct any lawyer or employee, including clerk V. Sothilechmy of Messrs Lewis & Co, to deposit money into fixed deposit accounts.

Sothilechmy confirmed in court that he received orders from lawyer B. Muralidharan to deposit the funds into fixed deposit accounts, he added.

“When I appointed Messrs Lewis & Co to manage YAB funds, Muralidharan told me that he will manage the funds by opening fixed deposit accounts so the foundation will earn interest. He told me that he had to do so based on the law.”

Zahid said he never gave Muralidharan orders to make payment for the purchase of two plots of bungalow land in Country Heights, Kajang, amounting to RM5.9 million.

“Muralidharan has control over the handling of YAB funds and knowledge on the transactions of money movements in the accounts of clients. Muralidharan also has sole discretion to determine how much funds needed to be entered into fixed deposit accounts.”

Zahid said the RM5.9 million wihtdrawn from the fixed deposit accounts was to pay for two plots of land meant for a Quran study centre, not money from illegal activities.

He also said he never instructed money changer Omar Ali Abdullah to exchange more than RM 7.5 million cash into 35 cheques.

“When Omar Ali was called to testify in court, he stated that he took the initiative to convert the cash contributions into cheques.

“When I met with him to discuss depositing cash into the client account of Messrs Lewis & Co, Omar Ali told me that he would use his own initiative to convert the cash into several cheques.

“Therefore, I would like to emphasise that the sources of cash managed by Omar Ali are contributions and donations from Yayasan Al-Bukhary. I also state that the cash managed by Omar Ali is not money from illegal activities.”

The prosecution in an earlier opening statement said the money laundering charge can be proven by showing that Zahid received several cheques worth about RM65 million from individuals known and unknown to him.

The trial continues tomorrow. – Bernama, June 27, 2022.