KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s Yayasan Akalbudi case has been “settled” permanently, Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar said today.

That means the deputy prime minister cannot be charged with the same 47 charges in that corruption case, Dusuki clarified when asked about his decision for No Further Action (NFA).

“And we said it is final, that is it lah,” Dusuki told reporters when met after the Opening of the Legal Year 2026 at the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre here.

He said he used his powers under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution to “close” Zahid’s Yayasan Akalbudi case.

“No further action, we will not have any other action. Cannot be charged again, already settled once and for all,” he said.

In 2023, the High Court granted Zahid a Discharge Not Amounting to Acquittal (DNAA) on all 47 charges in the Yayasan Akalbudi case, as the prosecution said it would not continue the case as further investigation was needed.

A DNAA means an accused person is only temporarily released from charges, and can be charged again in the future on the same charges if the prosecution decides to do so.

Last Thursday, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) announced that it had decided to take NFA on Zahid’s case, as there was insufficient evidence to continue prosecuting the case. 

Dusuki today defended the AGC’s 2023 move to ask for a DNAA in Zahid’s Yayasan Akalbudi case, and also defended his decision last week as public prosecutor to take no further action on the case.

He said Zahid’s lawyers had raised factual and legal issues in their six representations to the AGC, and the AGC had found there was a need for further investigations after reviewing this and that was why the AGC had asked for a DNAA.

“When we reviewed, MACC carried out further investigations, it was found that there is no longer a need for the case to be continued,” he said when explaining the NFA decision.

While the High Court in 2022 had found the prosecution had proven a prima facie case which would require Zahid to defend himself against all 47 charges, Dusuki today said that there was a change in circumstances based on the results of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) further investigation.

“But when we looked back at the further investigation, we found many money flows, that is the main issue, and it resulted in the called to defence being diluted. So we use the power, and there’s no need for us to continue, because the situation has changed,” he said.

He said the further investigation was “very comprehensive”, adding that the AGC found it was not possible to continue the Yayasan Akalbudi case.

He said it was inaccurate to question the AGC’s NFA decision by using the High Court’s prima facie decision. 

“Further investigation shows no need for the case to be continued. It diluted the case which was called to enter defence or prima facie. So we made the NFA decision.”

He said the AGC respects the High Court’s 2022 prima facie decision.

But he added that there have been other criminal cases in the past where the AGC had reviewed and reduced charges at the Court of Appeal, even after the High Court had found a prima facie case and convicted the accused persons.

After the AGC’s NFA announcement, Zahid’s lead defence lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik reportedly last Thursday said he would file an application at the courts to convert his client’s DNAA in this case into an acquittal.

Asked if the AGC would in court oppose this application by Zahid, Dusuki said a decision has not been made yet.

“We have not made any decision about the initiative that is said would be carried out by Hisyam Teh Poh Teik. Later we will study it first, what is his move, maybe he has his own views. We will re-evaluate that matter later,” he said.