Wong Hee Sing of Chia Bee Enterprise Sdn Bhd said he also did not know about the payment made to legal firm Messrs Lewis & Co.

“I confirm that I never knew anything about Yayasan Akalbudi, Yayasan Al-Falah and Lewis & Co.

“I (have) never met Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. I just knew him as deputy prime minister in 2016,” the 88th witness said when examined by deputy public prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffrey Ong.

Wong, 65, said he did not have knowledge about the source of the RM10 million.

The witness said he only agreed to be nominated as a director because his late boss, Lau Hui Kang, asked for his help to manage Chia Bee Enterprise due to his experience.

In his witness statement, Wong, who is a Sarawakian, said he worked for KTS Timber Produce Sdn Bhd as manager from 1973 until now.

He said he was appointed as a director of Chia Bee from June 5, 2008 as requested by Wong Sang Woo, also known as Paul Wong, a Singaporean.

Paul Wong, he said, was a close friend of Lau, then managing director of KTS Sdn Bhd.

He said Lau passed away in 2006 and he consented to become a director of Chia Bee although he had no role to play (in Chia Bee) as it was dormant and had no business activity.

The prosecution had to put Wong on the stand as it could not locate Paul Wong.

Cross-examined by defence lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh, Wong pleaded ignorance that the donation by Paul Wong was for a charity to the foundation handled by Zahid.

Hamidi: Is it common for politicians to have charitable foundations?

Wong: I don’t know.

Hamidi: I put it to you, your friend (Paul Wong) donated the RM10 million to Yayasan Akalbudi to build a mosque and a religious school and to purchase two plots of land.

Wong: I don’t know.

Hamidi suggested that the payment to Lewis & Co was above board and accounted for.

“If it is dirty money, it would would have been paid in cash,” he said.

The trustee of Yayasan Al-Falah is Zahid’s brother, Mohamad Nasaee Ahmad Tarmizi alias Hamidi, and both foundations shared the same objective, which is to give donations and empower Islam in this country.

The defence later informed judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that they would stop the cross- examination of Wong as he was repeatedly stating he never knew anything about the donation.

Zahid is facing 12 charges of criminal breach of trust, eight of corruption and 27 of money laundering totalling RM117 million.

The hearing before Sequerah continues tomorrow.