Former PM Muhyiddin Yassin leads a scandal-plagued coalition that seized power last year without an election/AFP

MALAYSIA —  Former Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been charged with yet another money-laundering offence today (13 March), marking the seventh charge against him.

The latest charge is related to the alleged illegal transfer of RM5 million (US$1.11 million) to his political party BERSATU (Parti Pribumi Bersatu) Malaysia’s AmBank account from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd.

Muhyiddin has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which was brought under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of not less than five times the sum of the alleged illegal funds or RM5 million, whichever is higher.

The prosecution requested that the bail conditions from the previous case be applied to this case, which included an RM2 million bail with two sureties and for his passport to be surrendered to the court.

The case was also transferred from the Shah Alam courts to the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur, where Muhyiddin faces six other charges of corruption and money laundering.

Last Friday(10 March), Malaysia’s 8th Prime Minister was slapped with six counts of abuse of power, and money laundering charges linked to the alleged misuse of a Covid economic recovery fund.

The BERSATU president was hit with four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling 232.5 million ringgit (US$51.4 million) for his party.

He was also slapped with two charges of money laundering involving 195 million ringgit deposited into his party account, according to the charge sheets.

These cases will be mentioned next on 26 May.

Muhyiddin was briefly detained on 9 March after anti-graft authorities interrogated him for alleged misuse of public funds intended to combat COVID-19.

Muhyiddin denied the allegations, calling it an attempt to silence the opposition by the new unity government.

Earlier,  Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, the information chief of BERSATU, has been charged with accepting nearly RM7 million (US$1.5 million) in bribes related to the Jana Wibawa programme, which was established during the Covid-19 pandemic to assist bumiputra contractors.

 

Subscribe
Notify of
1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Parti Liyani seeks compensation order against AGC for theft trial, defence counsel estimates S$71,000 in losses due to criminal proceedings

Former domestic worker Parti Liyani is seeking a compensation order against the…

Current Mustafa CEO purportedly not the founder, contrary to popular claims

A new dispute regarding the origins of the Mustafa empire has arisen…

Political instability caused disruption to Malaysia’s athletes, says Malaysian Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh

Despite fielding the fifth largest contingent of 677 athletes and setting a target of winning 40 gold medals at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, Malaysians were left disheartened as the country recorded its worst-ever performance in the SEA Games, raising concerns about the future of Malaysian sports. Hannah Yeoh, the Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister in Anwar’s Cabinet, has highlighted the adverse effects of political instability on Malaysia’s athletes and their performance, including in the recently concluded SEA Games.

Defamation trial: Readers’ immediate responses ‘irrelevant’ in evaluating aggravated damages, says PM Lee’s lead counsel Davinder Singh

The immediate comments made by readers in response to an article are…