KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi orchestrated a money-laundering scheme involving RM7.5 million using the services of a money changer to turn the sum into cheques, and then placed the funds in various fixed deposit accounts, the high court heard today.
Deputy public prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffrey Ong submitted that money changer Omar Ali Abdullah, being the agent, received an instruction from Zahid to convert RM7,511,250.20 into 35 cheques, and subsequently, the accused handed the cheques to Messrs Lewis & Co, a trustee of the Umno president’s Yayasan Akalbudi.
Harris said the funds were later placed in various fixed deposit accounts.
“Omar Ali, upon the accused’s instruction, received cash from an unknown individual. He (Omar Ali) used his wife Kamarunisah Ahmad Shah’s company (Ekares Sdn Bhd) to issue 35 cheques to Lewis & Co.
“He then banked in the cash to convert it into Ekareas’ cheques and asked his wife to make a confirmation on the payment if requested by the bank. He later filled in the amount and recipient for every cheque, and conveyed all the cheques to the accused,” he said in his submission to rebut the defence’s argument on 27 money-laundering charges before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
He said Kamarunisah did not know about the use of Ekares’ cheques, and the amount filled in for each cheque and who would be the recipients.
On the RM500,000 – part of the RM7,511,250.20 – received by Omar Ali, the DPP said it was from Yayasan Al-Bukhari.
“The cash was delivered by an unknown man to Omar Ali, which shows that the transaction was suspicious and doubtful.
“If it is true that the money came from donors for the purpose of charity, why did all the cash needed to be converted into cheques and ended up in Lewis & Co’s client account rather than Yayasan Akalbudi’s account?
“Without any proper documentation, we say that all the cash received by Omar Ali came from illegal sources, and not Yayasan Al-Bukhari. Omar Ali did not know who the man (who delivered the cash) was, and there was no indication that the man was a Yayasan Al-Bukhari representative.”
For the 27th charge, Zahid is accused of ordering Omar Ali to convert cash amounting to RM7,511,250.20 into 35 cheques made out to Lewis & Co as fixed deposits in Maybank.
Harris said based on the first to 25th charges, Lewis & Co received a total of 92 cheques amounting to RM76.9 million from various individuals and entities that had no business links with the firm.
He said the firm’s partner B. Muralidharan testified that he received the cheques from Zahid at the former deputy prime minister’s Kajang home or had the cheques passed to him at the firm.
“The manner in which the cheques were delivered by the accused, and the directive given to Muralidharan, clearly show that Zahid engaged directly in giving instruction to Muralidharan to deposit all the cheques received to be placed in 25 fixed deposits as per charges one to 25.”
Zahid, 68, is facing 47 charges – 12 for criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
The prosecution will continue its submission tomorrow. – Bernama, October 5, 2021
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