KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial has questioned the former deputy prime minister’s RM1.3 million “contribution” to a football club six years ago.
Deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran told the High Court that giving money to a professional club like Persatuan Bola Sepak PDRM does not fall under Yayasan Akalbudi’s objectives to eradicate poverty.
The court was told that the RM1.3 million paid to the police team was meant to pay the players’ unpaid salaries for four months.
“This is a football club, not a soup kitchen or food bank run by NGOs. The club belongs to the police and they hire professional players. The prosecution’s contention is that the shortfall of money does not make one poor,” she said in her closing submissions.
Zahid is standing trial on 47 counts of money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as home minister.
Twelve of the charges are for CBT, eight for corruption and the remaining 27 for money laundering.
Rozela also drew comparisons between the football players and other civil servants.
“I am not exaggerating. If we follow the defence’s analogy that the money was meant to alleviate the club’s financial problem, half of us (legal officers) here (in the courtroom) could qualify as ‘poor’ one week from the day we receive our pay,” she said, referring to Zahid’s contention that the players are entitled to receive “contributions” because they were not paid for months.
The prosecution affirmed that RM1.3 million to Persatuan Bola Sepak PDRM, as well as RM360,000 paid to TS Consultancy & Resources for voter registration purpose and a RM10 million “investment” to Armada Holdings Sdn Bhd, were not in line with Yayasan Akalbudi’s objective.
“This is nowhere near charity,” Rozela said.
She pointed out that TS Consultancy & Resources was registered in February 2015 as a company that provides motivational courses to the public. It was shut down in May 2017.
“In reality, this company was Barisan Nasional’s political arm to assist the coalition in registering voters in certain areas.
“For Armada Holdings, Wasi Khan – who was Armada Holdings’ director – said RM10 million was given by the accused (Zahid) after he sought for the money to bid for a contract in Indonesia,” she said.
The hearing before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues. - FMT
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