I have to pay for other people’s negligence - Zahid

 

Former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that Mazlina Mazlan@Ramly had committed negligence in handling his personal expenses as well as finances involving Yayasan Akalbudi.

Zahid, 69, said among the negligence his former executive secretary committed was failing to understand and read his credit card statements which caused her to make either insufficient or excessive payments.

"The mistakes that Mazlina made included making credit card payments amounting to RM71,283 instead of RM65,153.32. Besides that, she (Mazlina) also underpaid the credit card bill, paying only RM2,600 when she should have paid RM64,668.24," he said when reading out his witness statement on the third day of his defence proceedings on 47 charges involving breach of trust, corruption and money laundering.

He said Mazlina had testified in court that she did not know, was unsure and could not remember matters regarding the management of his credit card bills, apart from admitting to being negligent in handling the expenses.

“As a trained and experienced banker, I state that if I knew Mazlina was behaving in this way I would not have given her permission and would have stopped her actions immediately,” he added.

To a question raised by his lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal on what could have caused Mazlina to make the extra payment, Zahid said: “This is what I do not understand, why pay more and sometimes less? It means she was negligent… I have to pay for other people’s negligence. Where is the justice?”

Credit card statements

According to Zahid, Mazlina had never shown the monthly credit card statements to him although he had asked her to do so.

“She (Mazlina) said she would give me the credit card statements, that she would come to my office, I waited but she didn’t come and pretended to forget about it, every time I asked about this, she would give me so many excuses.

"I am a very busy person… I prioritise my duties for the ministry and the country, that is why I cannot detect any negligence by Mazlina in managing my personal finances and Yayasan Akalbudi’s," Zahid said.

Besides that, the Bagan Datuk MP said Mazlina had used Yayasan Akalbudi cheques to pay for his credit card bills without his instruction, knowledge or agreement.

“Mazlina had used my signature stamp on the Yayasan Akalbudi cheques that were used to pay for personal credit card bills as well as my wife’s (Hamidah Khamis) without my knowledge… the stamp should have been used on certificates of appreciation and festive season greeting cards.

“I have never ordered Mazlina to use the Yayasan Akalbudi cheques that I have pre-signed for purposes other than charity and I have never allowed Mazlina to use signature stamps or pre-signed cheques for credit card payment purposes or to pay for my vehicle insurance policy," he added.

Zahid also denied any knowledge of the existence of such cheques that were used by Mazlina from 2013 until 2016, adding that if he knew about this matter, he would have immediately fired her for misusing the foundation’s cheques.

“Due to these failures that Mazlina committed, I had to appoint Messrs Lewis & Co as trustee to the Yayasan Akalbudi funds,” he said.

Prefers advising over punishment

When Zaidi asked him why he did not take action against Mazlina even though she had committed several offences, Zahid said: “I am a professional... I treat the officers serving under the agencies and departments that I lead professionally. I have never demoted any officer, instead, I give advice and guidance as well as promote them so that the officer is no longer working in the office or ministry that I lead.”

Zahid further told the court that he would advise them because they were an asset to the department, agency or ministry under him and in that way, he would not end up oppressing, ill-treating or belittling them as well as not destroy their career.

Zahid is on trial over 47 criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering charges involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.

On Jan 24, the court ordered Zahid to enter his defence against all charges after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.

The trial before High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.

- Bernama