Motor insurance for Zahid's family costs more than RM70,000 annually - witness

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his family paid over RM72,000 for their vehicle insurance policies in 2015, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Testifying at the criminal trial against the former deputy prime minister, Allianz Insurance branch manager Fang Suat Lim revealed that RM56,615.62 was paid by the family to insure their luxury cars and MPVs, while the rest of the payment was for motorcycle insurances.

These included policies for standard and extended coverage for the vehicles, according to the 13th prosecution witness, who was testifying before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Fang read out from a prepared witness statement the list of the vehicles insured. These included vehicles registered under the names of Zahid, his wife Hamidah Khamis and Zahid's former aide Juhari Janan.

The luxury cars and MPVs under Zahid's name comprised a Lexus LX570, two Toyota Vellfire, Mercedes Benz CLS 350, Audi Q7 4.2 (A), Chrysler Jeep Wrangler, Honda Odyssey, Mini Cooper S, and a BMW 320i (A).

Six luxury and high-powered motorcycles insured under the Allianz Insurance were also under Zahid's name - two Harley Davidson bikes, a Ducati Diavel Carbon, BMW C600 Sport, BMW R1200 GS, BMW R1200 RT. Also insured was a Honda C100.

The vehicles that were registered under Hamidah's name were a BMW X5, and two bikes - Ducati Hypermotard and Kawasaki KLX 250 V - while under Juhari's name, a Toyota Land Cruiser.

According to the witness, a total of eight official receipts were issued for the insurance payments.

All payments were made to Allianz through Maya Consultant Services company and an insurance agent Ahmad Izhan Abdul Rashid.

Fang was testifying in the criminal trial against Zahid, where the Umno president is facing a total of 47 criminal charges related to Yayasan Akal Budi. The charges include 12 counts of criminal breach of trust, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery.

Today is the eighth day of the trial.

The prosecution team had in the first day opened the case by stating that they will try to prove that Zahid, as a trustee of the foundation, had misappropriated about RM31 million of its funds.

Prosecutors also stated that they would prove through trails of cash transactions that a large amount from the funds had been used to pay off personal credit card bills, purchase of motor vehicle insurances, and to pay road tax for personal vehicles. - Mkini