Muhyiddin charged with money laundering RM5mil

SHAH ALAM: Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was charged at the Sessions Court here with money laundering here.

Dressed in a dark suit, without a tie, the Bersatu president, 75, claimed trial for the charge levelled against him.

He was charged on Monday (March 13) under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Illegal Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001 read together with Section 87 (1) of the same Act.

According to the charge sheet, Muhyiddin, who is also Pagoh MP, had allegedly, in his capacity as Bersatu president, illegally received RM5mil from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd at the Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya AmBank branch.

He is accused of receiving the money that was deposited into the Bersatu AmBank account on Jan 7 last year.

If found guilty, the former Umno stalwart faces a jail term of up to 15 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification.

The prosecution team comprised of Ahmad Akram Gharib, Mohd Fadhly Mohd Zamry, Zander Lim Wai Keong, Kali Vani Annadorai and Maziah Mohaide.

The prosecution applied for the case to be transfered to the KL Sessions Court for it to be mentioned on May 26 together with the charges levelled against Muhyiddin there last week.

It (the prosecution) also offered that the RM2mil bail with two sureties that was imposed by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court be used for today's charge as well.

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court had also ordered Muhyiddin to surrender his passport.

Judge Rozilah Salleh agreed to the prosecution's application to transfer the case to Kuala Lumpur and apply the bail set there for the current case.

Last week, Muhyiddin was slapped with multiple charges for graft and money laundering at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.

He had been charged for four counts of abuse of power involving RM232.5mil as well two counts of money laundering involving RM195mil.

The charges had been framed under the Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009 and the AMLATFPUAA 2001 respectively.

The former Umno heavyweight had claimed trial for all six charges.

The defence was made up of Datuk K. Kumarendran, Chetan Jethwani and Dev Kumaraendran among others.