Lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh told the High Court the defence team was offended by the prosecution’s remarks, saying they included arguments that were not relevant to Zahid’s corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges.
“The prosecution started their case by saying ‘not a single sen went to the poor’ but then, Yayasan Akalbudi’s trustees said otherwise.
“They also raised the accused’s (Zahid) spending habits and questioned him if he ‘had the poor in his mind’ when he and his wife went shopping.
“We are offended by such prejudicial comments,” he said.
The defence contended that it was Zahid’s former secretary, Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly, who was negligent in issuing Yayasan Akalbudi’s cheques to pay for his credit cards.
During earlier hearings, deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran told the court that RM1.3 million of Yayasan Akalbudi’s money was used to settle the credit card bills incurred by Zahid and his wife, Hamidah Khamis.
The prosecution also said RM107,509.55 from Zahid’s foundation was used to pay for car insurance policies. The vehicles were registered under Zahid, Hamidah and a former aide, Juhairi Janan’s names.
The court also heard that Zahid and Hamidah owned more than 20 luxury cars and superbikes.
Zahid is standing trial on 47 counts of corruption, money laundering and CBT involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister.
Twelve of the charges are for CBT, eight for corruption and the remaining 27 for money laundering.
Hamidi told the court that the testimony from two witnesses and former Yayasan Akalbudi trustees – Mohd Samsuri Tun and Zulkifli Senteri – was not relevant to Zahid’s CBT charges.
He said the CBT offence had been alleged to have taken place between 2014 and 2016, when Samsuri and Zulkifli were no longer with Yayasan Akalbudi.
The two men were subsequently replaced by Muhammad Nabil Saleh and Khairuddin Tarmizi.
“Nabil and Khairuddin told the court they had no objections over how Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds were spent, such as the RM1.3 million given to Persatuan Bola Sepak PDRM, RM360,000 to TS Consultancy & Resources for voter registration purposes, and RM10 million invested in Armada Holdings Sdn Bhd.
“If the prosecution wants to prove that no meetings were held in Yayasan Akalbudi, going by Nabil and Khairuddin’s testimonies, then the charges should fall under the Companies Act for failing to hold annual general meetings,” he said.
The hearing before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.