“I received the contributions with good intentions as the money was to be used for religious and charitable activities,” he said when cross-examined by deputy public prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffery Ong.

Harris had asked about the RM5 million that came from textile wholesaler Junaith Asharab Md Shariff and RM2 million from jeweller Mubarak Hussain Akhtar Husin, both of whom are prosecution witnesses.

The DPP asked Zahid, a former deputy prime minister, how certain he was that the money was not from unlawful activities.

“The two did not come from secret societies and the police did not investigate them. This is also a question of integrity. I can’t question their intention to make donations,” the Umno president said.

The prosecution is contending that Zahid received the RM7 million in seven cheques and that he had instructed Messrs Lewis & Co, the legal firm that was appointed as trustee for Yayasan Akalbudi, to deposit them into the client’s account.

The prosecution said Zahid later instructed B Muralidharan, a partner with the firm, to make a payment of RM5.9 million (from the RM7 million) to purchase two plots of land in Country Heights in Kajang from Bee Garden Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Yayasan Akalbudi later transferred the plots to Al-Falah, a foundation led by Zahid’s brother Nasaee Ahmad Tarmizi, for religious purposes.

Zahid, in his defence, conceded that he gave instructions to Muralidharan to pay RM5.9 million, taken from Akalbudi’s funds, to buy the plots.

However, there is no evidence that the money was from proceeds of unlawful activities, he said. This is the subject matter of one of 27 money laundering charges faced by the Bagan Datuk MP.

Zahid is also facing 12 criminal breach of trust charges involving RM31 million from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes amounting to RM17 million for various projects during his tenure as home minister.

The hearing before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.