KUALA LUMPUR – The former press secretary to Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the high court here today that she was aware of a signature stamp that belonged to the former deputy prime minister, which she said was in the possession and control of Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly, Zahid’s former executive secretary.
Datuk Fadzlette Othman Merican Idris Merican said the signature stamp’s use was restricted to only certificates and festive greeting cards sent out by Zahid.
“This is because I had brought along certificates of appreciation before to Mazlina to be stamped with his signature upon his own instructions,” she said.
Fadzlette said this when reading her witness statement in the trial of Zahid, who is facing 47 charges, namely 12 charges of criminal breach of trust, eight charges of corruption. and 27 charges of money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
The defence witness said she had to monitor Mazlina as the latter had been negligent in handling Zahid’s personal accounts.
Fadzlette said she knew of issues involving Mazlina’s negligence as Zahid had mentioned it before to her and had instructed her to keep an eye on her as Fadzlette was ranked higher in the armed forces.
“I informed Mazlina what Zahid told me. I had once asked Mazlina to show me the credit card statements and cheques that were prepared before they were to be signed by Zahid.
“However, Mazlina always gave all sorts of excuses and never gave me what I wanted. This went on and because I was constantly busy with official duties, I sometimes failed to monitor her and follow up with Mazlina on these matters,” she said.
On work issues, Fadzlette, who is also the Umno president’s media director, said both she and Mazlina were always in touch to ensure work was coordinated smoothly, but added it was not easy to work as a team with her.
She said Mazlina did not mingle with the other officers and regularly failed to attend weekly meetings with the other officers at the deputy prime minister’s office.
“I noticed that she likes to keep to herself and does not share her opinions with the other officers.
“When she was at the Home Ministry, Mazlina never respected me and failed to follow my orders although it involved official duties,” she testified.
In previous proceedings, Zahid told the court that Mazlina, without his knowledge, had used his signature stamp on the Yayasan Akalbudi cheques to settle the credit card payments belonging to him and his wife, Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis, when it should have been rightly used for certificates of appreciation and festive greeting cards.
The trial is being heard before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah. – Bernama, September 21, 2022
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