KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's lawyer today contended that the prosecution had made a mistake in concluding donations made to Yayasan Akalbudi, the charity foundation founded by the Umno president, were proceeds from unlawful activities.
Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, in his submissions at the end of the prosecution's case in Zahid's corruption trial involving millions of ringgit of funds from the foundation, said this when submitting in respect of the 27 money laundering charges against Zahid.
He said the prosecution had come to the conclusion that there were unlawful activities in regards to the donations to the foundation.
This, he said, was erroneous and had no basis since there was no direct evidence on where the money came from.
Hisyam added that the prosecution had failed to cross the threshold in proving that the 27 charges were within the meaning of the Anti Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).
He said the most important ingredient to prove the charges was to identify the unlawful activities that resulted in the act of money laundering, which the prosecution had failed to do.
"Out of the 27 Amla charges, based on the evidence adduced, there is no sufficient proof for the court to make a finding in favour of the prosecution.
"The most important ingredient is to identify the unlawful activities. In the course of submissions, the prosecution had referred to some evidence but this is not sufficient to support their case," he said.
He also submitted that the investigation officer did not even investigate the origins of the RM5 million from Yayasan Albukhary which went through a moneychanger operator known as Omar Ali Abdullah who had then converted the cash into cheques which were subsequently handed over to Messrs Lewis & Co, the law firm identified a trustee of Yayasan Akalbudi.
He said Omar Ali, who was also the 81st prosecution witness in the case, did not violate any banking laws as a money changer as all his transactions were legitimate for the purpose of charity.
He said since the prosecution failed to show that the money laundering process took place as an element in the charges, the case against his client could not be defended.
Hisyam is expected to continue with his submissions before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Monday.
Zahid is standing trial on 47 charges of money laundering and CBT involving millions from his foundation, Yayasan Akalbudi, and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as Home Minister.
Twelve of the charges are for CBT, eight for corruption, and the remaining 27 for money laundering.
The trial started on Nov 18, 2019, and is now at the end of the prosecution's case.
