KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Tasek Gelugor MP Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan was today charged with 18 counts of money laundering some RM5.6 million between August and November 2022.

The Bersatu politician stood inside the dock of a packed courtroom as the charges were read aloud to him one by one under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLA) which was read together with Section 87(1)(a) of the same Act.

The 48-year-old was accused of transferring illegal proceeds from the WSA Advisory Group, of which he is the company director, to various entities including the National Sports Council and publisher Sinar Karangkraf Sdn Bhd.

He pled not guilty to all of them before Sessions Court judge Suzana Hussin.

Deputy public prosecutor Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan appeared for the prosecution while lawyers Amer Hamzah Arshad and Datuk K Kumaraendran represented Wan Saiful.

If convicted, Wan Saiful faces imprisonment of up to 15 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM5 million, whichever is higher.

Wan Saiful was previously charged with other corruption offences linked to the Jana Wibawa initiative, a stimulus package introduced by the then Perikatan Nasional-led government to help Bumiputera contractors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a press conference, Wan Saiful decried the latest charges against him as an attempt by the government to divert public attention from various failures it has achieved.

"So they (the government) are forced to find new issues to be used to divert the people's attention from all sorts of failure.

"But I will attend court to clear my name and defend myself because I am confident that there have been no wrongdoings committed and there are hidden motives beyond these charges," he told reporters.

The purported recipients in today's money laundering charges (totalling RM5,593,785.57) are as follows: