Purported TikTok videos of Muhyiddin Yassin denying bribery were played in court as his corruption trial began, with the witness unable to verify the clips’ authenticity.
KUALA LUMPUR: Purported audio and video recordings of former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were played in court on the first day of his corruption and money laundering trial at the High Court here.
The Pagoh MP is facing seven charges of abuse of power and money laundering related to the Jana Wibawa initiative.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission assistant superintendent Mohd Syawaludin Said, the first prosecution witness, testified that the two recordings dated Jan 16 and July 26, 2025, contained Muhyiddin’s denial of receiving bribes or abusing his position.
He stated that Muhyiddin was heard saying he did not receive any money personally and that funds were instead channelled into his party Bersatu’s account.
“The two recordings were uploaded by TikTok users @puterishantek and @wanhadi21, and I was instructed by investigating officer Mazery Mohd Zaini to download the audio and capture screenshots before saving them,” Mohd Syawaludin said during examination-in-chief.
From the audio transcription uploaded by @puterishantek, Mohd Syawaludin said he heard a male voice stating, “The allegation against me is that I accepted bribes!”
The recording also contained a denial where the voice said, “I did not accept it, Wallahi, not a single sen went into my pocket, it went to the party!”
Referring to the transcription from the @wanhadi21 account, he said the statement included the line, “I want to say that I did not commit corruption, the charges I face are not because I took bribes, my party received the money, they accuse me of taking it.”
Mohd Syawaludin confirmed to Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Nur Iman Wan Ahmad Afzal that he recognised the voice as Muhyiddin’s from the latter’s tenure as the eighth prime minister.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, the witness confirmed he did not investigate or trace the owners of the two TikTok accounts as there were no instructions from the investigating officer.
Amer Hamzah questioned who inserted the captions, location, and hashtags in the video, to which Mohd Syawaludin replied, “I am not sure.”
The witness acknowledged that he did not know the owners of the accounts and, when asked if he had heard of artificial intelligence technology, replied yes.
Amer Hamzah then asked, “If you did not verify its authenticity, would you know whether it was generated using AI,” with Mohd Syawaludin responding, “I would not know.”
Muhyiddin, 78, who was prime minister and Bersatu president at the time of the alleged offences, faces four charges of using his position to obtain RM225.3 million in bribes linked to the Jana Wibawa project.
The bribes were allegedly obtained from three companies, namely Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, as well as from Datuk Azman Yusoff for the party.
The offences were allegedly committed at the Prime Minister’s Office in Perdana Putra, Putrajaya, between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021.
Muhyiddin was charged under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the bribe value or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
He also faces three charges of receiving RM200 million in proceeds from unlawful activities from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu’s accounts.
For these charges, he was charged under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which carries imprisonment of up to 15 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the proceeds or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
The trial before Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin continues tomorrow.