Deputy public prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffery Ong, in his closing submissions at the end of the prosecution’s case, said Lewis & Co played a role in “facilitating” a money-laundering scheme on behalf of the former deputy prime minister and home minister.
He pointed out that the firm’s clerk kept records of all the transactions under two sets of files, in pink colour.
“If we look closely, the files are a ‘Pandora’s Box’ exposing a money-laundering scheme set up by the accused (Zahid).
“He knew the firm’s partner (Muralidharan Balan Pillai) for more than 10 years and Murali represented him in some civil cases.
“Murali also handled the accused’s funds that were received as donations, and placed them in different fixed deposit accounts,” Harris said.
Zahid is charged with 47 counts of money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving millions from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as home minister.
Twelve of the charges are for CBT, eight for corruption and the remaining 27 for money laundering.
According to Harris, between May 2016 and April 2018, Muralidharan was entrusted by Zahid to handle 92 pieces of cheques for over RM76.9 million.
“‘All roads lead to Rome’. But in this case, they led to Lewis & Co’s client account.
“Murali affirmed that he received the cheques from the accused in the latter’s Kajang home or the cheques would have been sent to Lewis & Co,” he said in describing the money trail.
The prosecution told the court that the owners of the 92 cheques had no business links with Lewis & Co.
Haris added that Muralidharan was informed by Zahid that the cheques were meant to build mosques, tahfiz schools or to be used for charity.
“Witnesses have testified that they gave the ‘donations’ to the accused but the ‘donations’ were without any receipts.
“Therefore, the act of donating did not look like it was a genuine one,” he said.
Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah then asked the prosecution on the origins of RM7.51 million in one of Zahid’s money laundering charges.
In the charge, Zahid is alleged to have instructed moneychanger Omar Ali Abdullah to convert RM7.51 million into 35 cheques, which were given to Lewis & Co to be placed in fixed deposits.
Sequerah: Even if the circumstances of someone delivering a bag of cash to Omar Ali were deemed doubtful, does it show the cash really came from illegal activities?
Harris: Omar Ali’s role was to convert cash into cheques and somehow he breached the money laundering law. In our case, it is important to look at where the money has ended up, which was in the clients account. We stand by our evidence that this was part and parcel of the accused’s plan.
The judge then pointed out that two witnesses (Junaith Asharab Md Shariff and Mubarak Hussain Akhtar Husin) had testified they had donated to Zahid’s Yayasan Akalbudi for building mosques and tahfiz schools, and if this fulfilled the definition of “donation”.
“In fact, the bungalow at one of the plots of land in Country Heights was converted into a surau,” Sequerah added.
In response, Harris told the court that purchasing a bungalow and converting it to a surau could not be used as a justification.
“They cannot turn a bad intention into a good intention with some renovations.
“In fact, the renovations only started after MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) started investigating the case,” he added.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.