This also resulted in the suspension of MyEG trading from 2.30pm.
At lunch break, MyEG was the most actively traded counter, erasing 37 sen to reach RM1.13 with 169.89 million shares traded.
Datasonic shares, on the other hand, were quoted at 51.5 sen, down 18 sen, with 95.94 million shares changing hands as at 2.48pm.
According to an online portal, Zahid as home minister allegedly received a RM5 million cheque from Datasonic for the company to supply 12.5 million chips for Malaysian passports.
He was also charged with receiving another cheque of RM1 million from a Datasonic director, again in relation to the Malaysian passport chips.
On another charge, Zahid was accused of receiving 10 cheques worth RM5 million to help a company secure a MyEG project.
He also allegedly received RM250,000 in his capacity as home minister to help a consulting company get a MyEG project.
He was also charged with receiving 13 cheques totalling RM8 million to help a company get a MyEG project.
Zahid claimed trial to all the charges.
Datasonic, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, refuted the allegations, saying the company had won the contract through an open tender process in April 2012.
“Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB, Datasonic’s subsidiary) won a five-year contract to supply passport polycarbonate data pages and a printing system through an open tender in April 2012.”
It said DTSB was awarded a contract to supply 12.5 million chips on Dec 15, 2015, based on enhanced chips security (to put the chips bonded into the polycarbonate data page, instead of at the back of passport cover) and at 15% lower pricing than the previous vendor.
This provided total savings of RM56.25 million to the government over a period of five years, it added.
Meanwhile, MyEG in a separate filing denied making payments to any party during the process of securing any of the company’s concessions awarded by the government.
“The board would like to clarify that the company is not a party to the charges against the former deputy prime minister,” it said.
It said the company and its board had no knowledge of Mastoro Kenny IT Consultant and Services, the company named in the charges.
MyEG also said it had never been in contact with any representative from Mastoro or its board of directors, had no knowledge of the dealings between Mastoro and Zahid, never awarded any projects or had any dealings with Mastoro and never appointed any vendor or contractors in any of its dealings with the home ministry.
“Furthermore, the company is seeking clarification from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as to the details of the charges and to confirm that the company and its board are not a party to the investigation leading to the charges against Zahid,” it said.
The company said an announcement would be released regarding this clarification once the MACC replies.