SHAH ALAM, June 17 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was today named in court as among the recipients of financial contributions given by Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB), a local company implicated in the corruption trial of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the award of a foreign visa system (VLN) contract.
The Bersatu president's name came up when the defence questioned former UKSB administrative manager David Tan Siong Sun, who also testified that Muhyiddin received a total of RM1.3 million in 2018.
Tan affirmed the entries he had made in a ledger file titled “HL PE” which he owned for bookkeeping purposes on cash payments made by UKSB to various politicians, government staff and Ahmad Zahid himself when cross-examined by defence lawyer Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal.
Tan referred to Muhyiddin as “TSM” in his ledger, which was shown to the court today.
The 17th prosecution witness also affirmed cash payments to Muhyiddin on three separate dates in 2018: June 4, July 4 and August 23; the sums were listed as RM300,000, RM500,000 and RM500,000 respectively.
Ahmad Zaidi: Referring to TSM, I put it to you that the payment was made in relation to the VLN and for the government of the day?
Tan: Yes for the government of the day.
Tan also affirmed that UKSB's projects were under the purview of the Home Ministry.
Muhyiddin was the home minister under the newly formed Pakatan Harapan government at that time, following the electoral defeat of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in May 2018.
Ahmad Zahid was Muhyiddin’s predecessor from May 2013 to May 2018.
Apart from Muhyiddin, Tan also confirmed that UKSB gave a sum of RM3.7 million in cash payments to former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin for various purposes between 2011 and 2018.
He also confirmed that Kepala Batas MP Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican received cash payments between RM200,000 and RM300,000 in total, based on a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Forensics Technology division analysis report that was tendered in court.
Reezal Merican was the deputy foreign affairs minister from July 2015 until May 2018.
Tan also affirmed the identities of two other code names in the ledger file.
“MOR” referred to former rural development minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal while “FM” referred to former foreign affairs minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Earlier in the trial, another defence lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik sought to discredit Tan's testimony and even suggested the 17th prosecution witness was part of a company-wide scheme to commit several white collar crimes.
The lawyer claimed the offences included tax evasion, money laundering, criminal breach of trust and bribery.
The lawyer also suggested to Tan that he and two other UKSB directors, Harry Lee Vui Khiun and Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani, had instead sought to pocket the funds themselves that the company used to make the aforementioned financial contributions.
Tan replied in the negative.
Hisyam later suggested that Tan had been dishonest on the witness stand when the latter testified that he had made monthly cash payments to Ahmad Zahid while employed as UKSB’s administrative manager.
Likewise, Tan disagreed with the lawyer’s suggestion.
Ahmad Zahid is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant and the then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the OSCs in China and the VLN system as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the Home Ministry.
For another seven counts, Ahmad Zahid was charged as home minister to have obtained for himself S$1.15 million, RM3 million, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in connection with his official work.
He is charged with committing all the offences at Seri Satria, Presint 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.
