KUALA LUMPUR: A former executive accountant from a foundation owned by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin claimed trial along with her husband to charges of money laundering at the Sessions Court here today.
Mimi Khairani Baharudin, a former employee at Yayasan Nurul Yaqeen, and her husband, Mohd Shaufik Ariffin, were jointly charged with three counts of money laundering involving some RM274,000.
Shaufik was separately charged with 17 counts of money laundering involving transactions worth more than RM400,000 in total.
They pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out before judge Hasbullah Adam.
Mimi allegedly committed the offence by making several fund transfers from the foundation’s account without the permission of the board of trustees.
An internal audit in 2019 found that she had been doing this from 2015 to 2018, causing the foundation to lose an estimated RM2.6 million.
She resigned from her position at the foundation on Jan 23, 2019, as soon as the internal audit was started.
Muhyiddin’s son, Fakhri Yassin Mahiaddin, lodged a police report on behalf of the board of trustees, alleging criminal breach of trust on the part of Mimi.
She and her husband were charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
If convicted, they could be jailed for a maximum of 15 years and/or fined a maximum of RM5 million.
Bail was set at RM35,000 for each charge. The court also told the couple to surrender their passports.
Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Farid Ahmad Kamal had sought bail of RM250,000 for each charge but defence counsel Nor Izawani Ahmad Jalaludin said Shaufik, an accounting clerk earning RM2,000 a month, was the family’s sole breadwinner.
She said the couple has three children to care for and that Mimi has not been employed for the past year.
Hasbullah fixed July 13 for case mention. - FMT
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