KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s defence trial for criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi (YAB) funds has been rescheduled to resume on April 10.
High Court Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah fixed the hearing for 27 days at case mention Monday (Jan 16), which was attended by Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran and Ahmad Zahid’s lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik.
The court fixed the hearing for April 10-13, May 15-18, June 12-15, July 24-27, and Aug 1-3, 7-10 and 21-24.
Earlier, Raja Rozela told the court that Monday was set for case mention and that additional dates had been fixed.
"The (new) dates agreed to by both parties are June 12-15, July 24-27 and Aug 1-3, 7-10 and 21- 24, so the dates already fixed for April and May remain,” said Raja Rozela.
Hisyam then confirmed the matter.
Ahmad Zahid, 70, dressed in a black suit, arrived in court at 8.45am.
The defence has so far called six witnesses, including Ahmad Zahid himself, to testify.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, is facing 47 charges, namely 12 for criminal breach of trust, eight on corruption and 27 on money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to YAB.
In November 2022, the trial had been postponed to Monday (Jan 16) following a request from Ahmad Zahid's lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik.
On Nov 2, 2022, Hisyam had asked for the court to postpone the hearing pending an interlocutory appeal that would be heard in the Court of Appeal on Nov 14, 2022.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob did not object to the request for a postponement and Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah had then fixed 21 days to hear the case in 2023, starting from Monday (Jan 16). - Bernama
