Counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, representing Zahid, said the prosecution witnesses had testified that they had never bribed the accused because the payments made to the foundation were political donations and for charity and this was supported by financial documents.
“Based on the manner of the transactions, there was no corrupt element. The prosecution witnesses said they had never bribed the accused.
“These witnesses (32nd prosecution witness Abu Hanifah Noordin and 34th prosecution witness Chew Ben Ben) remain consistent. None of them said that this was a bribe given to the accused,” he said.
Hisyam said this in his submission-in-reply at the end of the prosecution’s case against Zahid, who is facing 47 charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
He said the payments which were made through cheques never went into the accused’s personal bank account, but to the account of Lewis & Co, the law firm identified as the trustee for the charity foundation during the trial.
“We describe these transactions as open transactions, no element of secrecy; it has all been scrutinised. The cheques could also be traced. All of the payments were received in the form of cheques and not cash, they were not made in the dark or under suspicious circumstances,” he said.
Hisyam said that according to the witnesses, the transactions were audited by internal and external auditors.
“Witnesses have also agreed that they were open transactions, nothing suspicious about the transactions,” he said.
The hearing today was cut short as Zahid needed to go for his Covid-19 vaccine booster appointment in the afternoon.
The hearing before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.
Zahid, 68, is facing 47 charges – 12 for CBT, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
Based on the eight counts of bribery, he was alleged to have accepted bribes from three companies – Mastoro Kenny IT Consultant & Services, Data Sonic Group Bhd and Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd – as an inducement for him as then home minister to help them obtain MyEG projects, supply passport chips and be appointed the operator of migrant visa one-stop centres in Pakistan and Nepal.
He allegedly committed all the offences at the Maybank branch in Dataran Maybank, Bangsar between July 15, 2016, and March 15, 2018, and is charged under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, and is liable to be penalised under Section 24(1) of the same Act.
If convicted, he is liable to be jailed for up to 20 years and fined not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher.