Zahid used almost RM1.5 mln from Yayasan Akalbudi for personal expenses - Witness

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Khairudin Kilau, 44, said based on his investigations, Ahmad Zahid had settled bills for nine credit cards belonging to him and his wife, Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis for personal use amounting to RM1,362,037.81, while RM107,509.55 was for insurance and road tax payments for 20 vehicles belonging to them.

He said the credit card payments comprised RM1,296,715.98 to AmBank Islamic; Maybank (RM34,686.03) and American Express (RM30,635.80).

"The AmBank Islamic and Maybank credit cards had supplementary cards issued in the name of Hamidah Khamis. A review and examination of the statements for all the credit cards found that many expenses were made abroad, and paid using Affin Bank Berhad cheques belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi between 2014 to 2016," he said while reading out his witness statement during the examination-in-chief by Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt.

The 99th prosecution witness said this on the 51st day of the trial against Ahmad Zahid, who faces charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering, involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi.

Khairudin said Ahmad Zahid also used the foundation's money to pay for insurance as well as road tax for 20 vehicles, including 18 luxury vehicles, among them a BMW X5, Mini Cooper S, Mercedes Benz CLS350, BMW 320i (A), Toyota Land Cruiser and BMW R1200 GS motorcycle.

“The first payment of RM17,335.54 was used to pay for insurance policy and RM7,625.01 for road tax payments involving six vehicles belonging to Ahmad Zahid and his wife, whereby the payment was made through three Affin Bank Berhad cheques on Jan 22, 2015.

"The second payment, amounting to RM27,246.90 was to pay for insurance policy and RM16,368.10 for road tax payments paid through an Affin Bank Berhad cheque on April 15, 2015, which involved four vehicles belonging to Ahmad Zahid, one vehicle belonging to BZ Motors Sdn Bhd and a vehicle belonging to Juhari Janan.

"The third payment, a total of RM27,607.11 was used to pay for insurance policy, while RM11,276.89 to pay road tax payments involving eight vehicles belonging to Ahmad Zahid, and the payment was made through an Affin Bank Berhad cheque on Sept 22, 2015," he said.

Meanwhile, Khairudin said based on information obtained from the Companies Commission of Malaysia and the trustees of Yayasan Akalbudi, the foundation had never held an ‘Annual General Meeting (AGM)’ throughout its establishment from 1997 to 2018.

“There are no official meetings and discussions recorded by the secretary of the foundation related to the activities and financial reports of Yayasan Akalbudi.

“The finance and activities were managed by Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi himself.

The trustees also did not know who the contributors were and how much donations were received by Yayasan Akalbudi.

"Other trustees only knew that Yayasan Akalbudi was carrying out welfare matters, especially for residents in the Bagan Datuk area, which involved donations to mosques and tahfiz centers," he said.

The trial before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues March 18, and the witness will continue his testimony on the day.

Khairudin is the 10th MACC investigating officer called by the prosecution to testify in the case.

Ahmad Zahid, 68, is facing 47 charges, 12 of which were for criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving millions of ringgit of Yayasan Akalbudi funds.