KUALA LUMPUR: Four cheques totalling RM800,000 were issued to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia by an engineering and construction company four years ago, the High Court here was told.
Maybank Shah Alam branch operations officer Chang Hui Chin, 50, confirmed that KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd made four payments of RM200,000 each, all dated on Sept 1, 2022.
“I confirm that the signatures on the cheques belong to Zulhelmi Mairin @ Kunting and Mohd Zaid Yusoff, who are authorised signatories for the company’s account,” she said.
Chang, the sixth prosecution witness, said this when reading out her witness statement yesterday during the trial of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is facing seven charges of abuse of position and money laundering.
Earlier, during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, Chang also verified the company’s account opening form dated Oct 19, 1999.
She said the form, completed by the company, listed its directors as Zulhelmi and Mohd Hafizam Abdul Halim, while authorised signatories included Zulhelmi, Datuk Azman Yusoff and Mohd Zaid.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, Chang agreed that the recipient of the cheques was Bersatu and that each transaction was properly recorded and carried out transparently, Bernama reported.
Muhyiddin, 78, who was then prime minister and Bersatu president, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM225.3mil in connection with the Jana Wibawa project from three companies and also Azman for the party’s benefit.
The companies are Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd.
Muhyiddin is accused of committing the act at the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra in Putrajaya bet- ween March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021.
The charge, framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
The Pagoh MP also faces three charges of receiving proceeds from illegal activities totalling RM200mil from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu’s Ambank and CIMB Bank accounts at the bank’s branches in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022.
The trial before Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin continues on April 16.
