KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who stands accused of 47 charges of corruption, continued to maintain his innocence on the 15th day in the witness stand.
The Bagan Datuk MP, who is testifying in his own defence, said his testimony in court has been the “truth” denied that he was blaming others to avoid being convicted.
Ahmad Zahid was asked by deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob if he agreed that it was his nature to “purely blame others” while testifying in his defence.
“Not blaming, truth. And my testimony is based on the oath which I had read,” he replied of his entire testimony in the trial, noting that he had sworn an oath to tell the truth in court, just like other witnesses had done.
Ahmad Zahid was ordered to enter his defence on January 24 and has occupied the witness stand since April 13. Today is the 15th day of hearing in which he is testifying as the defence witness.
Earlier, the prosecution went through various transactions and decisions related to the criminal charges before making the suggestion that Ahmad Zahid was relying solely on shifting blame as his defence.
Abdul Malik highlighted that Ahmad Zahid had said he was only following former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's instructions when asked about three charges relating to RM2 million in bribes from Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd as an alleged reward for the company's appointment for a project for a one-stop centre for Nepal and Pakistan,.
Abdul Malik noted that Ahmad Zahid had also claimed that he had supported the recommendations by Home Ministry officials in an internal document which appointed Profound Radiance for the project.
Abdul Malik further noted that Ahmad Zahid had said the appointment of Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB) for the supply of 12.5 million Malaysian passports chips was actually done by the Finance Ministry. This is in relation to two corruption charges where Ahmad Zahid is alleged to have received RM6 million in alleged bribes from a former Datasonic Group Berhad official as a reward over DTSB's appointment.
The prosecution pointed out that Ahmad Zahid previously testified that the issuance of cheques using the charity Yayasan Akalbudi's funds were mistakes made by his former executive secretary Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly.
He added that Ahmad Zahid previously said Yayasan Akalbudi's failure to make records was due to the company secretary not having made the records.
Ahmad Zahid confirmed he had made those remarks about Mazlina and added that he believed her failure to furnish financial details to the company secretary resulted in annual accounts not being prepared for Yayasan Akalbudi.
“Yang Arif, when Major Mazlina was unable to give details regarding debit or credit in account, the company secretary could not prepare the account. Because that is the raw source of information to be given to company secretary in order for her to prepare the annual account.”
Ahmad Zahid also confirmed he had said that he did not instruct the law firm Lewis & Co to convert Yayasan Akalbudi's funds into fixed deposits and that the law firm had acted on its own to do so. These are in relation to money laundering charges.
Ahmad Zahid is standing trial on 47 charges, namely 12 of them for criminal breach of trust in relation to more than RM31 million of charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges over RM21.25 million of alleged bribes.
In relation to the criminal breach of trust charges, Ahmad Zahid had previously blamed Mazlina over the use of Yayasan Akalbudi's cheques for expenses such as to pay for his and his wife's credit card bills, as well as insurance policies and road tax for personal vehicles.
Yayasan Akalbudi's objectives are to eradicate poverty and enhance the welfare of the poor, with Ahmad Zahid being both its trustee and subsequently its sole signatory.
The trial before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes next Monday, with Ahmad Zahid's lawyers expected to re-examine him.
