KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution is preparing Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz's witness statement in the case against former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who faces charges of abusing his position in connection with RM232.5mil in bribes and RM200mil from illicit activities.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told High Court judge Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin that 99.5% of witness statements have been provided to the defence, with only this key witness statement pending.
"Tengku Zafrul’s statement will be handed to the defence two weeks before he testifies in court," Wan Shaharuddin said.
Muhyiddin’s lawyer, Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, confirmed receipt of the statements but noted that the defence has yet to receive one from businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari.
"We seek confirmation on whether Syed Mokhtar will be called to testify. We accept the prosecution’s discretion in this matter.
"I raise this matter because Syed Mokhtar’s name was not included in the prosecution’s witness list,” the lawyer said.
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Wan Shaharuddin explained that the witness list submitted to the defence on Monday (Feb 23) pertains only to the Projek Jana Wibawa case, and that Syed Mokhtar’s name had been included in the witness list for the money laundering charges, which was provided to the defence three years ago.
"If no witness statement is submitted to the defence, the witness (Syed Mokhtar) is likely to testify orally," he added.
Justice Noor Ruwena then directed the prosecution to submit the full witness list by Friday (Feb 27).
Muhyiddin was absent from today’s proceedings after being granted leave by the court.
Previously, the court had scheduled 29 hearing days for the case: March 9 to 11; April 13, 16, 28 and 29; May 25 and 26; July 6 to 10, 13 to 17, and 27 to 29; and Aug 17 to 21, 26 and 27.
On Oct 7 last year, the Attorney General’s Chambers rejected Muhyiddin’s application to have seven charges against him dismissed.
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Muhyiddin, 78, was charged with four counts of abuse of power for allegedly soliciting RM232.5mil in bribes for his political party Bersatu from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Datuk Azman Yusoff in connection with the Jana Wibawa project.
He was accused of committing the offence at the Prime Minister's Office in Bangunan Perdana Putra, Federal Government Administration Centre in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021.
The Pagoh MP also faces three charges of receiving RM200mil in illegal proceeds from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu's accounts.
The offence was allegedly committed at AmBank, Amcorp Mall branch, Petaling Jaya on Jan 7, 2022, and CIMB Bank, Menara KL Branch, Jalan Stesen Sentral, between February 25 and July 16, 2021, and Feb 8 and July 8, 2022.
Tengku Zafrul was finance minister in Muhyiddin's Cabinet at the time. – Bernama
