Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo pointed out that she had failed to record statements herself from other witnesses as well as Syed Saddiq regarding the election campaign and expenditure required for the activity, and had, instead, relied on statements taken by other officers.
Investigating officer Nurul Hidayah Kamaruddin, however, insisted that the reason she did not record statements regarding the election campaign and expenditure for it was because they were not related to her scope of investigation.
She had also concluded from her investigation that Syed Saddiq didn’t use the RM120,000 for the general election campaign as he claimed. Instead, she said, he had moved RM100,000 from the amount to his Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) account.
However, Nurul Hidayah, who is the 28th prosecution witness, couldn’t explain from her investigation where the remaining RM20,000 went.
Gobind: Do you agree that each parliamentary or assembly candidate has to spend a lot during the election campaign on things like posters, billboards, audio systems, tents, and talks?
Nurul Hidayah: Agree.
Gobind: But you did not investigate this. Did you yourself, as the investigating officer, ask Syed Saddiq about it?
Nurul Hidayah: No.
Gobind: You failed in your duty as the investigating officer.
Gobind then asked Nurul Hidayah if she knew that Syed Saddiq had submitted the statement of the campaign expenditure in relation to GE14 totalling RM171,675 to the Election Commission.
Gobind: He had submitted the statement with all the original receipts detailing each spending. Did you know that?
Nurul Hidayah: I didn’t know that.
Gobind: You don’t know because you did not investigate this yourself.
Nurul Hidayah: I only focused on the RM120,000 which was transferred from Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise’s (ABBE) bank account to Syed Saddiq’s bank account
When asked about the possibility of other money being used as an advance before being repaid with that RM120,000, Nurul Hidayah testified that, based on her investigation, the money was only meant for the election campaign and it was not used as originally intended.
However, Gobind reiterated that Nurul Hidayah did not investigate that possibility, including how much was actually needed and used for the campaign and how much of the advance payment was received, as well as how it was spent.
Again, Nurul Hidayah maintained that her investigation only revolved around the RM120,000.
During her testimony, judicial commissioner Azhar Abdul Hamid advised her to answer the questions accordingly and not to follow her whim.
Azhar: Puan Nurul, you have the tendency to only answer what you want to answer. The question is simple, under the law concerning the general election, the parliamentary and assembly candidates have to submit an expenditure statement, are you aware of that?
Nurul Hidayah: I am not sure.
Azhar: That means you don’t know?
Nurul Hidayah: I don’t know.
Syed Saddiq was charged with misappropriating RM120,000 belonging to the Bersatu Youth wing by getting assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim to transfer RM120,000 belonging to ABBE to his Maybank account between April 8 and Apr 21, 2018.
He also pleaded not guilty to two charges of money laundering amounting to RM50,000 each. He was also slapped with a charge of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM1 million belonging to the party.
The trial continues on Aug 3.