RM6 mil were political contributions, not contract kickbacks: Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the high court today that two cheques amounting to RM6 million received from Syarikat Sarana Kencana Sdn Bhd were political contributions when he was the deputy prime minister, not bribes.

Zahid, 69, refuted allegations that the cheques received via former Datasonic Group Bhd deputy managing director Chew Ben Ben were an inducement to appoint Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB) to supply passport chips for five years, calling them slanderous.

“I wish to stress that the decision to appoint DTSB was not by me. I have no authority to make the final decision as it is under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry.

“The process carried out by the Finance Ministry, Home Ministry, and Immigration Department on awarding the polycarbonate contract to DTSB was in order and according to the stipulated procedure.

“All procedures were conducted appropriately by my officers at KDN and verified by the Finance Ministry before the contract was awarded to DTSB,” he said. 

He said this when questioned by his lawyer, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, while defending himself on 47 charges with 12 of them involving breach of trust, eight charges of corruption and 27 charges of money laundering, involving tens of millions of ringgit in funds belonging to YAB.

Zahid said when he was holding the post of home minister, former DTSB director Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali had submitted an application to supply passport chips for five years  – 12.5 million chips which would be embedded in the Malaysian passport’s polycarbonate biodata page – to the government via direct negotiation.

“When it involves direct negotiation, it involves directives from the Treasury as well as the internal procurement of the Home Ministry. Furthermore, I stated that the Finance Ministry determines awarding direct negotiations to any company that makes an application not at the procurement level of the Home Ministry,” he said.

To Zaidi’s question on how his client knew Hashim, Zahid said that he knew Hashim, who was then the army chief, when he held the position of political secretary to the defence minister.

“He (Hashim) later became a director of several listed companies, including a director of DTSB. I have known him for more than 20 years since I was in the Defence Ministry not because of his involvement in business but as an officer of the Malaysian Armed Forces,” he said.

He said Sarana Kencana was owned by Hashim and Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin, the former managing director of Datasonic Group Bhd.

The Bagan Datuk MP also said Abu Hanifah, who is the 32nd prosecution witness, had stated in court that the cheques were given to him as a political fund which was part of a charity.

“Chew (the 34th prosecution witness) also testified during the re-examination by the prosecution, in which he stated that based on his understanding, political money is also included as charity.

“Abu Hanifah and Chew also stated that the issuance of these two cheques had nothing to do with the appointment of DTSB to execute the polycarbonate contract. In fact, the cheques credited into the customer account of Messrs. Lewis & Co were a political contribution to me,” he said.

Based on the 14th and 15th charges, Zahid is alleged to have received bribes amounting to RM6 million from Chew as a reward for appointing DTSB to implement the passport chip project for a period of five years or for a total of 12.5 million chips to be included in the polycarbonate biodata page of Malaysia’s international passport by the Immigration Department through direct negotiations under the Home Ministry.

The trial is being conducted before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah. – Bernama, May 26, 2022