Ahmad Zahid's graft case: Over 1,000 pages of written submissions submitted

KUALA LUMPUR: Both the prosecution and defence in the graft trial of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds, have submitted about 1,200 pages of written submissions at the end of the prosecution case to the High Court here, which will be heard on Aug 5.

The prosecution team, led by deputy public prosecutor, Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran, submitted about 200 pages of written submissions, while the defence, led by lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, submitted about 1,000 pages.

Raja Rozela told Bernama that the submissions at the end of the prosecution case should have been heard this week, but this was postponed to Aug 5 following the implementation of Phase One of Movement Control under the National Recovery Plan (PPN).

"Submission dates are set for Aug 5, 6, 9, 11, 13 and 24, 2021. We submitted about 200 pages of written submissions in mid-June," she said when contacted via the WhatsApp application.

Hisham, when contacted, confirmed the date of the submission and said that his team had submitted the written submission of about 1,000 pages to the court on June 15.

Ahmad Zahid, 68, had pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to 12 CBT charges, eight counts of bribery charges and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.

On Feb 21, 2019, the High Court allowed Ahmad Zahid's application to transfer his case from the Sessions Court to the High Court as the prosecution did not object to the application.

For the CBT charges, Ahmad Zahid was alleged to have used the funds to make six payments for his personal credit cards usage, insurance policy and licence for his personal vehicles, remittances to a law firm and contributions to the Royal Malaysia Police football association.

The offences were allegedly committed at Affin Bank Berhad branch in Jalan Bunus off Jalan Masjid India, here, between Jan 13, 2014, and Dec 23, 2016. The charge, under Section 409 of the Penal Code, provides for a jail term of between two and 20 years, and with whipping, and fine, upon conviction.

He was charged with committing the offences, framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, at the Maybank branch at Dataran Maybank in Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, between July 15, 2016, and March 15, 2018.

The Bagan Datuk Member of Parliament also faced 27 charges of money-laundering by engaging in direct transactions involving income from illegal activities between March 29, 2016, and April 11, 2018.

All the offences were allegedly committed at Malayan Banking Berhad, Dataran Maybank branch, Level 1, Tower A, No. 1 Jalan Maarof, Bangsar and Marhaba Enterprise Sdn Bhd, LG 1.15, Fahrenheit88, 179 Jalan Bukit Bintang, near here between March 29 2016 and April 11 2018.

Ahmad Zahid also faced 40 charges of having accepted bribes from a company over the overseas visa system at the Shah Alam Sessions Court, which brings the total charges against him to 87.

-- BERNAMA