Defence suggests charge framed against Zahid had 'ill intent'

 

The defence team representing former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his corruption trial today suggested that the sixth criminal breach of trust charge involving nearly RM18 million of Yayasan Akal Budi's funds was baseless.

Defence counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said this during cross-examination of the 93rd prosecution witness, MACC officer Muhammad Fazli Zulkifli, at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.

Hisham said although the funds were transferred from Yayasan Akal Budi's account to the account that belonged to Messr Lewis & Co, the amount still belonged to the foundation.

Hisham further suggested the prosecution had ill intentions in framing the charge on Zahid.

Hisyam: Encik Fazli, from what you earlier confirmed, do you agree with me that there is absolutely no basis for the sixth charge presented? Agree or disagree?

Fazli: Disagree.

Hisyam: I repeat my question, the money had reached Lewis & Co's account, the owner of the money remains the same, Yayasan Akalbudi, so, therefore, it cannot be said that Datuk Seri (Zahid) has committed CBT. Agree or disagree?

Fazli: Agree.

Hisyam: With all due respect, I am saying, when the prosecution presented the charge, the prosecution had ill intentions?

Fazli: I disagree

Fazli was the officer responsible for investigating Zahid's involvement in laundering funds related to the purchase of fixed deposit certificates and shares in Riyaz Assets amounting to RM17,953,185.21.

Last Friday, he revealed to the court share transactions between Zahid's daughter Nurulhidayah and Ri-Yaz Assets former director, Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaf, as well as cash flow between Yayasan Akalbudi, Lewis & Co, Ri-Yaz Assets and Exim Bank, converted into fixed deposits.

Throughout the trial, the defence suggested that Lewis & Co had acted as Yayasan Akalbudi's trustee. However, this has been denied by the firm's two partners in their testimonies last August.

According to Fazli, close to RM18 million was withdrawn from Yayasan Akalbudi's account to Lewis & Co's account, with more than RM8 million given to Ri-Yaz Assets for sale and purchase of shares between Rashid and Nurulhidayah. Zahid is the founder, trustee and sole signatory of Yayasan Akalbudi.

During the re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi, Fazli was asked to clarify his response on the "owner of funds" in Lewis & Co's customer account and whether the withdrawal from Yayasan Akalbudi's account was made following procedure.

"This withdrawal, from my investigation, was a criminal breach of trust involving RM17.9 million of Yayasan Akalbudi's funds whereby it was taken without agreement of the other boards of trustees and transferred to Lewis & Co's client's account," he said.

Based on his investigations, Fazli said Lewis & Co received verbal instructions from Zahid on the money in its customer account and never received any instructions from any other board of trustees members.

Fazli said he also found Yayasan Akalbudi's money in the Lewis & Co account was placed as a fixed deposit based on Zahid's instruction to grow the funds.

'Zahid's warning contradicted other witnesses'

Hisyam also grilled Fazli on Zahid's "warning" that was not included in his written statement.

According to the defence counsel, Zahid had explained about the purchase of Ri-Yaz Assets shares, whereby Rashid had offered Zahid an investment opportunity through Yayasan Akalbudi.

Zahid, said Hisyam, suggested that Nurulhidayah be appointed as a director, given the foundation's large investment.

During re-examination, Fazli explained that based on his investigation, Zahid's warning had contradicted the testimonies of other witnesses.

Among others, it was found that Nurulhidayah was the actual party with interest to invest in Ri-Yaz Assets, although Yayasan Akalbudi made payment.

Fazli explained that there was no document to show the investment was between Yayasan Akalbudi and Ri-Yaz Assets, and instead, it involved Rashid and Nurul Hidayah.

He also confirmed no documents were found to show Nurulhidayah's appointment as an observer, proxy or representative of Yayasan Akalbudi in Ri-Yaz Assets.

"I didn't insert the OKT (Zahid's) statement because it is just for my defence. Yang Arif, I only included in my statement on the findings of MACC's probe," he added.

Last Friday, Fazli presented a flow chart of how RM17.9 million was withdrawn from Yayasan Akalbudi's account and transferred to Lewis & Co's client's account on June 23, 2016, on Zahid's instruction.

From the amount, RM8,602,920 was withdrawn from Lewis & Co's account and paid to Ri-Yaz Assets in a cheque as a deposit for Nurulhidayah's purchase of 60 percent shares that belonged to Rashid.

At Zahid's instruction, the remaining RM9,350,265.21 was deposited into a fixed deposit account in July 2016.

However, due to currency exchange differences between ringgit and US dollars, Ri-Yaz Assets only paid RM8,348,040.90 (valued at US$2.058 million) to Exim Bank, while the balance RM254,879.10 was returned to Lewis & Co through a cheque dated July 15, 2016.

Fazli added that the RM254,879.10 returned to Lewis & Co, together with 24 company and individual cheques, were eventually used to purchase fixed deposits amounting to more than RM5.46 million in July 2016.

Meanwhile, the amount RM8,348,040.90 later returned to Lewis & Co was also debited as a fixed deposit in May 2017.

Therefore, the entire amount of RM17.9 million was converted into a fixed deposit.

On its 48th day, the hearing before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah will resume this afternoon. - Mkini