Giving evidence as the first defence witness before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah today, Zahid said the RM109 million was spent on projects locally and abroad, as stated in his witness statement.

He said there were other projects that were carried out but the contributions were not recorded.

“This is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing as they (donors) do not want publicity for their good deeds,” he said when examined by counsel Ahmad Zaidi Zainal.

Zahid, who is the Umno president, said this to rebut the prosecution’s opening statement that “not a single sen from Yayasan Akalbudi was spent on charitable activities”.

He said part of the money used for charitable purposes also came from his own contributions.

“Why should I be humiliated for all the good deeds done through the foundation?” he asked, noting that he was giving evidence on a “holy Friday”.

Zahid said Yayasan Akalbudi trustees who turned prosecution witnesses did not contribute funds to undertake charity work.

“They also did not raise any objection to the activities carried out by the foundation,” he said.

The Bagan Datuk MP is accused of 47 counts of money laundering and criminal breach of trust involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister between 2013 and 2018.

Twelve of the charges are for CBT, eight for corruption and the remaining 27 for money laundering.

The hearing before Sequerah was adjourned to May 23.