KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — The High Court today viewed Yayasan Al-Falah’s 2018 letter asking law firm Lewis & Co to appeal to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to lift the freeze on funds allegedly held by the law firm for the organisation linked to Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s family, but the foundation’s trustee later disagreed that Lewis & Co was acting for it.
Today, Lewis & Co partner Muralidharan Balan Pillai again asserted that Zahid had asked his law firm to handle and manage funds — worth millions of ringgit — on behalf of Yayasan Al-Falah, and that Zahid had directed for these monies to be put into fixed deposits for the foundation.
While testifying as the 87th prosecution witness in Zahid’s corruption and money laundering trial, Muralidharan said that he recalled that the MACC had towards the end of July 2018 frozen the funds that his law firm Lewis & Co was holding on behalf of Yayasan Al-Falah.
Yayasan Al-Falah’s chairman is Datuk Seri Mohamad Nasaee Ahmad Tarmizi, who is also Zahid’s younger brother.
Asked by Zahid’s lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik on whether he was able to get a letter from Nasaee to confirm that Lewis & Co was holding funds on and behalf of Yayasan Al-Falah, Muralidharan said he did not seek for such a letter as he did not think it was proper to do so once he took the witness stand.
“But there is a letter written to me by Yayasan Al-Falah, when there was a freeze on the fixed deposits, they wrote a letter to me, to Lewis & Co, asking me to appeal against the freeze and to uplift the freeze,” Muralidharan told the court, referring to the 2018 letter.
Later when asked by deputy public prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt, Muralidharan explained that he disagreed that Zahid was a “legal stranger” to Yayasan Al-Falah when the then minister gave instructions on funds for the foundation, due to Zahid’s family ties.
“Yayasan Al-Falah is a family foundation, both Datuk Seri Zahid initiated the foundation and Datuk Seri Nasaee is chairman of trustees, both of them knew the monies I was holding was actually for Yayasan Al-Falah and for the purposes particularly for the building of mosque in Bagan Datuk and for the tahfiz and it’s for religious and charitable purposes.
“And that’s why when there was a freeze of fixed deposits held by Yayasan Al-Falah, I received a letter from Yayasan Al-Falah sometime in August 2018 asking me to appeal the freeze. I had instructions to appeal against the freeze,” he said, further explaining that Nasaee was also aware of Zahid’s instructions on the funds for Yayasan Al-Falah.
Later when asked by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran, Muralidharan confirmed that there is no written document to confirm that Zahid had appointed his law firm to handle the funds.
When asked why his assertion of having been appointed to handle Yayasan Al-Falah’s funds should be believed, Muralidharan highlighted that he had not profited from this.
“It’s a family foundation, cheques were given to me, I put it in client’s account, I put it in fixed deposits as instructed to earn interest. Basically I did not derive any benefit from this whole thing, I did not make any profit from this. I have been following instructions from Datuk Seri (Zahid) and to a certain extent Datuk Seri Nasaee, and all these were for Yayasan Al-Falah for a religious and charitable purposes as I was told,” he replied to Raja Rozela.
Asked by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi, Muralidharan explained why he believed that the instructions from Zahid for the funds were for Yayasan Al-Falah, stating: “Because the monies I was told to put it for Yayasan Al-Falah, the client’s name was Yayasan Al-Falah, so any instructions I got from him was for purposes of Al-Falah.”
About Yayasan Al-Falah’s letter to Lewis & Co
Excerpts of the Yayasan Al-Falah letter written in Malay on August 15, 2018 to Lewis & Co was read out in court today, where the foundation said it was informed by Lewis & Co that the MACC had given an order for the freezing of Yayasan Al-Falah’s fixed deposits that were being “held on trust” by the law firm.
“We write this letter to give instructions to you to make an appeal to the MACC to release the freeze on Yayasan Al-Falah’s fixed deposits due to the reason such fixed deposits are held by you on trust for Yayasan Al-Falah where these fixed deposits are used for religious purpose to build mosques and tahfiz schools,” the letter had read.
Yayasan Al-Falah’s trustee denies Lewis & Co’s role
Today, 66th prosecution witness and Yayasan Al-Falah’s trustee Faisalludin Mohamat Yusuff — who was recalled to testify — was shown the same 2018 letter from Yayasan Al-Falah to Lewis & Co.
While saying he had never seen this letter, Faisalludin verified that the letter was signed off by Nasaee as the Yayasan Al-Falah chairman.
When asked by Zahid’s lawyer Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal about the letter, Faisalludin agreed that this letter did not amount to an appointment letter for Lewis & Co to act as Yayasan Al-Falah’s trustee.
Faisalludin agreed with Zaidi that the only person who can testify whether Lewis & Co was actually appointed as Yayasan Al-Falah’s trustee is Nasaee himself.
Earlier under questioning by Zaidi, Faisalludin testified that Yayasan Al-Falah’s trustees had never appointed any law firm including Lewis & Co’s Muralidharan to act as the foundation’s trustee.
Faisalludin also agreed that neither of the foundation’s three trustees including him and Nasaee had ever instructed the lawyer Muralidharan to issue any cheques or put any funds in fixed deposits for the foundation, also agreeing that Yayasan Al-Falah had not given any cheques to the lawyer or law firm to deposit into a trust account and that the foundation had never received any of the interest from fixed deposit savings placed by Lewis & Co.
Zaidi: Has the board of trustees ever allowed Murali from Lewis & Co to carry out any financial matters for Yayasan Al-Falah?
Faisalludin: Never, Yang Arif. I just met him in the witness room, that’s all, first time meeting him.
When asked by Zaidi about Muralidharan’s previous testimony that his law firm was a trustee for Yayasan Al-Falah, Faisalludin replied: “Firstly, I was shocked when I read in the media, secondly, that is something that is not true. We never appointed Lewis & Co or Murali as the lawyer or trustee on the matters raised.”
Faisalludin also agreed with Zaidi that Zahid has no links with Yayasan Al-Falah and was not listed as the foundation’s trustee, further agreeing that this meant that Zahid had no dominion or control over Yayasan Al-Falah’s property, assets or funds and also agreeing that Zahid has no power to appoint trustees for the foundation.
Earlier when asked by deputy public prosecutor Sazilee, Faisalludin claimed that Nasaee had previously told him that he had never appointed Lewis & Co for Yayasan Al-Falah, saying that this was told to him by Nasaee recently when Muralidharan testified in court and earlier before this case arose as the name Lewis & Co was already reported by the media then.
Zahid’s trial before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes in the afternoon.
