SHAH ALAM – After being postponed twice due to the movement control order, the trial of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on 40 corruption charges in connection with the foreign visa system (VLN) will resume at the high court here on August 25.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran told Bernama that the former deputy prime minister’s case will be heard over three days – August 25, and September 1 and 2 – before judge Datuk Mohd Yazid Mustafa.
“The prosecution will call two or three witnesses to testify on August 25.”
Zahid, 68, faces 33 counts of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd 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 a one-stop centre in China and the VLN, as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN paraphernalia to the same firm by the Home Ministry.
He allegedly committed the offences at Seri Satria in Putrajaya and Country Heights in Kajang between October 2014 and March 2018.
The charges, framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act, provides for a maximum 20 years’ jail and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
For the other seven charges, Zahid was charged as the then home minister with accepting S$1.15 million, RM3 million, €15,000 (RM75,663) and US$15,000 (RM62,115) in cash from the same company, which he knew had a connection with his functions as minister.
He was charged with committing the offences in Country Heights between June 2015 and October 2017 under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of two years, or a fine, or both, upon conviction. – Bernama, August 11, 2021
