KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today denied that the RM6 million in two cheques he personally received from a passport chips supplier’s official in April 2017 were “bribes” to help the company get a contract worth over RM300 million.
The Umno president who is in the dock for corruption insisted that the money was a “political donation” made to him in his capacity as deputy prime minister then, and that it was intended for charity Yayasan Akalbudi’s projects.
In 2017, Ahmad Zahid was both the home minister and the deputy prime minister.
Two of the eight corruption charges see Ahmad Zahid accused of receiving two cheques dated April 25, 2017 — issued by Sarana Kencana Sdn Bhd — for the sum of RM1 million and RM5 million from Datasonic Group Berhad’s then deputy managing director Chew Ben Ben over the appointment of Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB) as the supplier of 12.5 million Malaysian passport chips for the Immigration Department via direct negotiations with the Home Ministry.
The two cheques totalling RM6 million were issued by Sarana Kencana, where Datasonic Group Berhad’s then chief executive officer Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin is a shareholder and director.
Abu Hanifah retired from Datasonic Group Berhad on January 31, 2020, while Chew resigned from the same company in March 2021.
“I stress that that cheque is not a reward or bribe from DTSB or anyone,” he said twice while testifying in his own defence at the High Court here, referring to the two cheques.
Ahmad Zahid said that Chew had never told the court during this trial that the two cheques worth RM6 million were a bribe, and said both Chew and Abu Hanifah had told the court that the money was not related to the awarding of the contract in 2015 to DTSB.
“I confirm that the cheque paid to Lewis & Co and banked into Lewis & Co’s client account is a political donation to me, who was also the deputy prime minister at that time,” the Bagan Datuk MP said, repeating the same answer in reference to the two cheques.
Lewis & Co is a law firm which Ahmad Zahid’s lawyers have been arguing was acting as a trustee for Yayasan Akalbudi.
“I stress again that the political donation amounting to RM1 million and RM5 million from Datuk Abu Hanifah and/or Chew Ben Ben are not bribes or rewards or gratification for the appointment of Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd and/or them to carry out the polycarbonate contract.
“I wish to stress that Datuk Abu Hanifah and/or Chew Ben Ben had confirmed that political donation encompasses amal jariah that would be contributed to Yayasan Akalbudi,” he said, using the Islamic term meaning charity.
Ahmad Zahid was referring to the Yayasan Akalbudi foundation that he had founded, and where he is a trustee and the sole signatory of its cheques.
Asked by his lawyer Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal if he remembered what the RM6 million donation would be used for, Ahmad Zahid said that the construction planned at that time was for an international huffaz centre or a centre for Quran memorisation and for the Masjid Tuminah Hamidi in his Perak parliamentary constituency.
Ahmad Zahid is standing trial on 47 charges, 12 of them for criminal breach of trust in relation to more than RM31 million of charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges.
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