KUALA LUMPUR – The prosecution in Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial in relation to the Foreign Visa System (VLN) had failed to prove critical elements necessary for a successful conviction, according to high court judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa.
In the written judgement sighted by The Vibes, Yazid stated that the prosecution had failed to “prove the element of receipt of cash monies” received by Zahid from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB), a contractor appointed by the home ministry to manage the VLN system.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution had adduced their evidence to show that Zahid, who became the home minister in 2013, received cash payments from UKSB which in turn got preferential treatment from the home ministry.
The prosecution had then relied heavily on a political donation ledger that was kept by UKSB executives that noted the value of each donation to their respective recipients.
Earlier today, Yazid had freed Zahid, who incidentally is at present the president of Umno, of all 40 charges of corruption in connection with the VLN case.
In his judgement, Yazid explained that the prosecution’s star witnesses – two former directors of UKSB Harry Lee Vui Khiun and Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani – as well as the firm’s former administrative manager David Tan Siong Sun did not provide the court credible evidence.
“All three key witnesses called by the prosecution, i.e. PW15 (Tan), PW16 (Lee) and PW17 (Wan Quoris) testified that all cash monies were placed in a brown envelope on each occasion of deliveries.
“Initially, the monthly amount was S$200,000 but was subsequently increased to S$300,000 and finally S$520,000. For months of default, the amount would then be doubled up for the following months.
“For instance, if they did not pay in January, the amount will be paid together in February. Again, they were all placed in an envelope.
“In comparison to the facts in PP v Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, in that case, the first delivery of RM5 million in cash on December 20, 2016, was split into two bags of RM2.5 million each.
“For the second delivery of RM1.5 million, the monies were put into two knapsacks. In the present case, the prosecution did not produce any sample envelope.
“No evidence was led to show the size of the envelope used. I simply cannot imagine what envelope in what size would fit the S$600,000 in cash, which was equivalent to around RM1.6 million at the material time.
“Surprisingly, PW17, the creator of the ledger, admitted during cross-examination that the second delivery of RM3 million in cash by way of luggage was an afterthought.
“This admission of an afterthought by the key prosecution witness, i.e. PW17, is more than sufficient for me to find that PW17 was with zero credibility,” said Yazid.
All three witnesses had referred to the ledger as a major part of their testimony.
In the ledger, abbreviations were used as references for the identity of each person. For Zahid, his code names purportedly were “Monster”, “Z”, “ZH”, “MON”, and “Young Boy” in the ledger.
Other notable figures supposedly listed as abbreviations in the ledger were Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, Tan Sri Anifah Aman, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Datuk Seri Reezal Merican and Khairy Jamaluddin.
Similarly, Yazid also stated that both Tan and Lee agreed that there was no independent evidence to support the contention that the monies were in fact paid to the Zahid.
“Based on all the evidence adduced by the prosecution, I observe as follows: no CCTV footage was produced in court, the driver was not called, the guard was not called, the policeman was not called.
“Touch ‘n Go transaction slips were not produced, and the phone call logs and messages with the accused (Zahid) also were not produced,” said Yazid. – The Vibes, September 23, 2022
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