KUALA LUMPUR: Ahmad Zahid Hamidi spent most of the RM120,000 monthly income that he received when he was not part of the government on charitable activities in keeping with his late parents’ wishes, the High Court heard today.
Reading his statement as the first defence witness in his corruption trial, the Umno president said he only spent between RM30,000 and RM40,000 of the amount on his family members and himself.
The former deputy prime minister said that in 1999, the RM120,000 was derived from his salary, allowances and bonuses from five companies that he was involved in.
He said he was inspired to do charitable activities following the wishes of his late parents.
Zahid said he was first elected as the Bagan Datuk MP in 1999 but only made deputy minister in 2006. He was later appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of religious affairs in 2008.
He moved on to become the defence minister in 2009 and was made the home minister in 2013.
“I was deputy prime minister from July 29, 2015 until May 9, 2018.
“My monthly income was about RM50,000 while in the government,” he said, adding that he had savings of RM2 million at Bank Islam’s KL Sentral branch.
He said that as a Cabinet member, he could not get involved in the corporate world and as such he was no longer a director of any company.
Zahid is accused of 47 counts of money laundering and criminal breach of trust involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister.
Twelve of the charges are for CBT, eight for corruption and the remaining 27 for money laundering.
He was ordered to enter his defence on all charges on Jan 24.
The hearing before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues. - FMT
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