Firm received RM360,000 from Zahid’s charity body for voter registration, court told

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi faces 47 charges of CBT and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds, and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as home minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: A witness told former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption and criminal breach of trust trial that the company he was previously attached to had received RM360,000 from Yayasan Akalbudi.

Yayasan Akalbudi is a charitable foundation set up by Zahid.

Jasni Majid said his previous company, TS Consultancy & Resources, had received two cheques from the foundation for RM360,000 on Aug 20, 2015 and Dec 23, 2016 for having conducted the registration of voters for a special unit under the deputy prime minister’s office.

He said both cheques were issued from Yayasan Akalbudi’s Affin Bank account and that he and another staff had deposited the cheques into their company’s CIMB account.

“The company was formed to help out with voter registration on the ground, with the cooperation of Umno,” he told the High Court today.

Jasni said the company had sought funds from Zahid as it did not have enough money to run its activities and daily operations.

To a question from deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi as to why the company had to get funds from a third party, Jasni said the company did not have any income.

“TS Consultancy was under the special unit of the DPM’s office and we took instructions from there,” he said.

Asked by Zahid’s lawyer, Hamidi Mohd Noh, whether he knew that TS Consultancy was meant to print Quran books and that the RM360,000 was paid for this purpose, Jasni said he was not aware of it.

Another witness, Sabri Said, said he was told to set up a company for voter registration purposes by former Election Commission (EC) chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar and that he had asked Jasni to come on board to assist the company in administration and finance matters.

“The voter registration exercise was focused on certain areas where Barisan Nasional had won with slim majorities in the previous general election,” he said, adding that they had focused on Malay voters.

Zahid faces 47 charges over alleged CBT involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds, money laundering as well as accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as home minister.

The hearing before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow. - FMT