RM6mil deposited into Bersatu’s Ambank account in 2022, court told

2026-03-11 - 07:25

Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin is on trial for alleged abuse of power in relation to the solicitation of more than RM200 million in bribes and for money laundering of funds paid to Bersatu. (Bernama pic) KUALA LUMPUR: The third prosecution witness in former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s corruption trial told the High Court today that RM6 million was deposited into Bersatu’s AmBank account in 2022. AmBank assistant branch manager Paizah Osman, 45, testified on the third day of the trial that the account registered under the name Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia received the money in 10 cheques between Feb 21 and Nov 17, 2022. During examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Nuralis Mat, Paizah said the account received two deposits of RM1 million each on Feb 21, 2022. Two further deposits of RM500,000 each were made on May 30 and Oct 31. Thereafter, four cheques of RM500,000 were deposited on Nov 8, 2022, followed by two more deposits of RM500,000 on Nov 17, she said. However, she said there was no information to enable identification of the senders of the cheques. Defence counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad asked Paizah whether she had received any instructions from Bank Negara Malaysia regarding Bersatu’s account. Paizah replied that she could not recall. Amer then asked if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had raised any questions about investigations by BNM during its probe. Amer: Do you agree that during the MACC investigation, you were not asked about any investigation by Bank Negara? Paizah: Agree. Amer: And the MACC did not ask anything about a suspicious transaction report (STR)? Paizah: Agree. Yesterday, CIMB branch manager Lee Hui Nee testified that the bank had filed STRs with BNM after unusual amounts involving millions of ringgit were detected to have flowed into the party’s account. She said the account had received RM19.3 million through 28 cheques between August 2021 and November 2022. Muhyiddin, 78, faces seven charges linked to his administration’s Jana Wibawa programme, a government initiative introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to assist Bumiputera contractors. The Bersatu president is charged with four counts of abusing his position to solicit RM225.3 million in bribes for the party from three companies and one individual – Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd and Azman Yusoff. He is alleged to have committed the offences at the Prime Minister’s Office between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021. He also faces three counts of money laundering involving RM200 million, allegedly received from Bukhary Equity and deposited into Bersatu’s accounts at AmBank and CIMB Bank. The offences are alleged to have been committed at AmBank in Petaling Jaya and CIMB Bank Jalan Stesen Sentral in Kuala Lumpur between Feb 25, 2021, and July 8, 2022. The defence team also comprises Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Rosli Dahlan, Chetan Jethwani, K Kumaraendran, Kee Wei Loon, Low Wei Loke, Siti Summaiyah Ahmad Jaafar, Lee Yei Wei, Tang Jia Yearn and Joshua Tay. The prosecution team comprises Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Akram Gharib, Noralis Mat, Mahadi Jumaat, Alis Izzati Azurin Rusdi and Safari Abdullah. The trial before Justice Noor Ruwena Nurdin continues on April 13.