Deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran said all the witnesses from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) gave truthful evidence as the company did not have enough money to be given to the accused.
“They needed support from their two business partners in Hong Kong. Money also came from a company in Labuan. The money did not drop from the sky,” she said in her submission on the source of the funds in Zahid’s corruption trial.
Raja Rozela said it was not vital for the prosecution to show where the money came from to prove the ingredients of the charges against Zahid under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act (MACC) and the Penal Code.
“This will impose an unreasonable burden on the prosecution to establish a prima facie case against the accused,” she said.
She said UKSB’s former administrative manager David Tan and MACC investigating officer V Mahendran had testified on the existence of an agreement the company had with the Hong Kong business partners.
The prosecution, she said, had shown that Zahid, as a public servant, had asked for money and it was delivered on a monthly basis by UKSB directors Harris Lee and Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani.
Yesterday, lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, who is appearing for Zahid, submitted that the prosecution did not prove the source of funds his client was said to have received.
He said the charges stated that the money was from UKSB but evidence in court revealed it was from Hong Kong and from dividends from an offshore company in Labuan.
Zaidi said the money was then sent to two money changers in Kuala Lumpur who sent the funds to Tan and Lee.
As such, he said, the prosecution had failed to prove its case as the chain of evidence on the money trail was incomplete.
Zahid’s lead counsel, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, today submitted that the testimonies of Tan, Lee and Wan Quoris should be rejected as they were not credible witnesses.
“The court must take judicial notice that they were dishonest and contradicted themselves in giving evidence,” he said.
Hisyam said Tan, Lee and Wan Quoris had kept another UKSB director, Fadzil Ahmad, in the dark over a ledger that listed out cash payments to politicians, including Zahid.
Zahid, who is also the Bagan Datuk MP, is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from UKSB as the then home minister to extend the firm’s contract as the operator of the one-stop centre in China and the foreign visa (VLN) system as well as to maintain the contract agreement for the supply of the VLN integrated system.
The principal charges are framed under the MACC Act while the alternative charge comes under the Penal Code.
He is also accused of another seven counts, under the Penal Code, of obtaining for himself S$1.15 million, RM3 million, 15,000 Swiss francs and US$15,000 from the same company in connection with his official duties.
All the offences are said to have been committed at Seri Satria in Precinct 16, Putrajaya, and at Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.
Judge Yazid Mustafa will rule on Sept 23 if Zahid has to answer the charges.