FORMER prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he was not afraid of being investigated over accusations that he had misused or pocketed funds from the government’s Covid-19 pandemic stimulus and aid packages. 

Defending himself, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman said it was baseless to accuse him of such wrongdoing and claimed that not a single sen of the monetary aid for the public entered his personal account. 

“Not a single sen went into my personal account. It doesn’t make sense that the aid funds directly deposited to the people’s accounts can be diverted to my account,” he said in a Facebook post today. 

“If this happens, it would have definitely be known through the audit findings by the National Audit Department (NAD), which is made every year. 

“Even the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) would surely have presented a report in parliament. It was impossible for NAD and PAC to overlook it. This is not a small matter,” the Bersatu president added. 

Several lawmakers including Hulu Langat MP Sany Hamzan, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil and Alor Gajah MP Adly Zahari have accused Muhyiddin of allegedly misusing the funds during Covid-19 pandemic. 

Sany and Umno Supreme Council member Ishan Jalil have called for the Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into the RM600 billion expenditure under Muhyiddin’s administration. 

Clarifying this matter, Muhyiddin even said he was unsure where the figure was derived from. 

He believes it was the alleged figure emerged from the eight economic stimulus packages, which according to him were worth RM530 billion, given out by his government during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Muhyiddin said the bulk of the amount did not involve government expenditure as most was non-fiscal.

“Out of this total of RM530 billion, most of it was non-fiscal, where it does not involve government expenditure.

“This includes the issuance of EPF i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra worth RM145 billion, a reduction in EPF payments worth RM10 billion, a moratorium on bank loan payments for individuals and companies worth RM180 billion, government guarantees for company loans worth RM80 billion and other initiatives that aim to ease the burden borne by individuals and businesses.

“It is impossible for me to misappropriate the funds because the money belonged to individuals or banks and did not involve government spending. I, as the prime minister at that time, did not have any authority over the use of these funds,” he said. 

Meanwhile, referring to a statement from then finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Muhyiddin added that expenditure involving government money in the form of fiscal injections was worth RM83 billion.

He said this included the purchase of vaccines worth RM5 billion and various forms of direct cash assistance for the people such as wage subsidies worth RM20.92 billion, Bantuan Prihatin National worth RM18.2 billion, Geran Khas Prihatin worth RM4.21 billion, Geran Khas Prihatin Permai worth RM842 million, the Bumiputera Easy Financing Scheme worth RM500 million, and other aid that is directly deposited into the accounts of eligible recipients.

Muhyiddin said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) would have been alerted had he pocketed the huge amount of funds.

The Pagoh MP said an investigation should have begun when he resigned from his position as prime minister last year but nothing of that sort took place. 

“In fact, BNM would have received a notification about the movement of a large sum of money into my account and an investigation would have started more than a year ago. But there was nothing.”

Muhyiddin also said that if there was an act of misconduct or corruption, legal action could be taken against the perpetrator.

“I believe that the Ministry of Finance, especially the Laksana Agency, has every detail of the expenditure for all eight economic stimulus packages that were implemented when I was prime minister.

“I’m not afraid of being investigated because I know I’m not misusing the people’s money entrusted to the government to be used for the purpose of helping the people during difficult times,” he said. 

Muhyiddin also said the government of the day should not use the police to silence dissent of those who are against them. 

“It seems that only a few days into the government, Pakatan Harapan has not shied away by using the police to pressure leaders who do not agree with them. 

“This is a clear attempt at silencing dissent. 

“This is in stark contrast to their promise of institutional reform to guarantee the independence of the country’s important institutions without political interference, including the police force,” he said. – December 5, 2022.