A RM9 million donation to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to build mosques was purely an investment for the afterlife, said a witness in his corruption trial.
Mohd Jimmy Wong Abdullah, who is a non-executive director in MyEG, told the Kuala Lumpur High Court the donation which was made through 14 demand drafts and bank cheque between May 2016 and March 2018, was to build two mosques.
During questioning by deputy public prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffery Ong, Mohd Jimmy said that there was no other purpose to the donations and that he did not even seek tax relief.
Harris: Did you get a receipt each time you contributed?
Mohd Jimmy: No. A verbal agreement (akad) was enough.
Harris: Did you ask for tax relief?
Mohd Jimmy: No. It was sincere. It was an investment for our afterlife.
The MyEG director said he made verbal agreements with Zahid each time a donation was made, negating the need for any receipts or invoices.
In his witness statement earlier, Mohd Jimmy said that Zahid had approached him for contributions to build two mosques, one in Malacca and the other in Country Heights, Selangor.
"I answered that I could not afford it, but it was RM10 million, maybe I could afford it.
"Zahid said the contributions can be channelled to the foundation," he said without naming the foundation.
He elaborated that instead of cash, Zahid asked for the contributions to be channelled to the accounts of Lewis & Co, the legal firm which represented the foundation.
Lewis & Co is the trustee of Yayasan Akalbudi, a foundation Zahid is the patron of and is accused of having used to launder money.
Mohd Jimmy said he had informed MyEG chief financial officer Chong Chien Ming of his intent to make an advance of about RM10 million which would be paid back using commissions from his side income, that is introducing employers to migrant workers.
Previously, a bank officer had informed the court that 14 demand drafts worth RM8.4 million had been channelled to Lewis & Co from MyEG's account, while a bank teller cheque worth RM600,000 had come from Chong's account.
Mohd Jimmy said during the examination in chief that he had never dealt with Lewis & Co previously, but felt no need to investigate the company out of trust for Zahid.
"I know Zahid's personality. I know he prays a lot, helps mosques, orphans, and does a lot of religious matters. I believed (my contribution) was for Islam," he added.
He said that his trust in Zahid was intrinsic and unexplainable.
Zahid is facing 47 charges, comprising 12 charges of criminal breach of trust and 27 charges of money laundering.
For the money laundering charges, Zahid is accused of receiving RM65 million through Lewis & Co, with a majority of the amount used to place a fixed deposit in the law firm's name. - Mkini
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