SHAH ALAM: The hearing of Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption case over the Foreign Visa System (VLN) at the High Court here, which was fixed for Friday (July 29), has been postponed to Aug 10 as the last prosecution witness to testify is still positive for Covid-19.
At the proceedings on Friday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob told Judge Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa that the witness, who is a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer, was still positive for Covid-19 and in quarantine until July 31.
"With your permission, we would like to request for the trial to be continued on the dates that have been set, which is Aug 10 to 12," he said.
Since there was no objection from lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh, representing Ahmad Zahid, the court then postponed the trial and fixed Aug 10 to 12 to continue the hearing.
Ahmad Zahid, 69, is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to SGD$13.56mil (RM42mil) from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant and the then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the One-Stop Centre (OSC) in China and the VLN system as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the home ministry.
On another seven counts, Ahmad Zahid was charged, as the Home Minister, to have obtained for himself SGD$1,150,000; RM3mil; €15,000; and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in connection with his official work.
He is charged with committing all the offences at Seri Satria, Presint 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018. - Bernama
