KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — The RM25.3 million that three Bumiputera contractors and their representatives had given to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in 2021 and 2022 is not a “political donation”, an anti-corruption investigator told the High Court today.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Mazery Mohd Zaini said the RM25.3 million was instead a reward given after Bersatu president and former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin helped these companies get government projects.

“The investigation also found that the money deposited from these companies are not a political donation, instead it is a ‘balasan’ (reward) for the accused’s actions which helped them get those projects,” the MACC senior assistant commissioner told the High Court, referring to Muhyiddin as the accused.

Mazery said this while testifying as the 29th prosecution witness in Muhyiddin’s abuse‑of‑power and money‑laundering trial.

Mazery repeatedly stressed that the RM25.3 million paid out by these companies to Bersatu was “not a coincidence”, as they had all made the payments after obtaining the government projects under the Jana Wibawa programme.

Previously, the High Court had heard from other prosecution witnesses that KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd and its managing director Datuk Seri Azman Yusoff gave RM4.8 million to Bersatu after getting a project, while Nepturis Sdn Bhd had given RM1 million after also getting a project.

The High Court also previously heard that Mamfor Sdn Bhd gave RM19.5 million to Bersatu after its director’s younger brother’s company, Sutracom Sdn Bhd, won a project, with Mazery saying that RM10 million of this RM19.5 million was paid out before the contract award document (SST) was issued as Sutracom found out via Azman that the project award had been approved.

Mazery said Muhyiddin was one of the authorised signatories for Bersatu’s CIMB and AmBank bank accounts that received the RM25.3 million, explaining that an authorised signatory could control any transactions in the account including receiving, using and withdrawing funds.

Mazery said the RM25.3 million was not a genuine donation.

Mazery pointed out it might have been different if these companies had donated to Bersatu despite not receiving any government projects, or if the companies had donated before applying for the projects, and if the donations were in smaller and more reasonable sums.

In his investigations, Mazery said he did not find any donation receipts issued by Bersatu for the RM25.3 million given by KCJ Engineering, Azman, Nepturis, and Mamfor.

Mazery said there was no reason for witnesses from these companies to fabricate their testimony against Muhyiddin, and noted that their testimony were all backed by documents.

“The most important fact that I found is that all project application letters were sent to the accused, and secondly, money was only deposited into the party Bersatu’s account,” he said.

Mazery said Muhyiddin had written “minutes” or notes that enabled both Nepturis and Sutracom to obtain the Jana Wibawa projects through pre-qualification tenders, citing the “minutes” where he had agreed that the projects that they were bidding for should be done through such tenders.

Mazery also said that Muhyiddin had listed KCJ Engineering as one of 54 contractors in his November 13, 2020, proposal to the Finance Ministry for appointment for 54 Jana Wibawa projects through direct negotiation.

While it is still up to the Finance Ministry and Public Works Department to evaluate contractors and to approve the awarding of the Jana Wibawa projects, Mazery said Muhyiddin’s actions had “opened the path” for the three companies to be considered for those projects. 

Without Muhyiddin’s minutes and November 13, 2020 letter, the Finance Ministry would not have started the process to consider those contractors for the projects, Mazery said. 

Mazery also said the contractors’ owners and representatives have said they would not have given money to Bersatu if they did not get the Jana Wibawa projects.

Mazery said the MACC had recorded Muhyiddin’s testimony as part of its investigations in this case, but noted that the former prime minister did not disclose various matters during the investigation, including:

  • that these companies had given money to Bersatu after the government projects were approved;
  • what happened on July 19, 2020, between him and Azman.
  • why he had asked contractors who obtained Jana Wibawa projects to donate to Bersatu;
  • how he obtained the list of 54 companies including KCJ Engineering.

Previously, Azman said he had a July 2020 one-on-one meeting with Muhyiddin on opportunites for Bumiputera contractors to get government projects, where the then-prime minister spontaneously said contractors could donate directly to Bersatu and also spoke about the Jana Wibawa programme.

Among other things, Mazery said Muhyiddin had never disclosed to anyone that Bersatu had received the RM25.3 million from the three companies and Azman.

In this trial, Muhyiddin is facing seven charges, namely four counts of alleged power abuse to obtain RM225.3 million in bribes for his party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (from Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Datuk Seri Azman Yusoff, KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd), and three counts of alleged money laundering involving money that Bersatu received from Bukhary Equity.

The trial before High Court judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin is scheduled to resume tomorrow, with Azman expected to be further cross-examined.

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