SHAH ALAM: The High Court here has fixed Sept 23 to decide whether Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should be ordered to enter his defence against 40 charges of receiving bribes from a company which was awarded the One Stop Centre for foreign visa applications (VLN) contract when he was Home Minister.
Judge Datuk Yazid Mustafa fixed the date after both sides finished their submissions today. A total of 18 prosecution witnesses were called to testify in the trial which started on May 24, 2021.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPP) Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran, Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin and Zander Lim Wei Keong said the prosecution had proven a prima facie case against the former deputy prime minister and Umno president.
They urged the court to order Zahid, 69, to enter his defence against all charges after stressing that there was ample evidence to show he had committed the offences while holding the position of Home Minister and dealing with Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) - the company which was awarded the VLN contract.
Touching on one of the defence's main arguments that the prosecution had failed to prove the source of the money allegedly given to Zahid, Raja Rozela did not mince her words when she said:
"Duit ini bukan jatuh dari langit...(this money did not fall from the sky). It was from UKSB."
She said this in response to the defence's arguments that the prosecution did not prove the source of funds which Zahid was said to have received.
His lawyers - Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Ahmad Zaidi Zainal and Hamidi Mohd Noh - had argued that the charges against their client stated that the money he was alleged to have received was from UKSB but evidence in court revealed it was from Hong Kong and from dividends from an offshore company in Labuan.
The money, they argued, was sent to two money changers in Kuala Lumpur before being given to UKSB directors who allegedly then handed the cash to Zahid, who is Bagan Datuk member of parliament.
Zahid is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) as an inducement to extend the company's contract as the operator of the One Stop Centres in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the Home Ministry.
He also faces another seven counts of obtaining S$1.15 million, RM3 million and US$15,000 in cash from the same company for himself in connection with his official work as Home Minister.
He is accused of committing all the offences at Seri Satria, Presint 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.
Zahid has all the while maintained that he was a victim of selective prosecution as several other top leaders named in court as having received money from the same company were not charged.
He has also maintained that the money given to him by UKSB was meant as a political donation.
However, the prosecution has dismissed the Umno president's defence of him being a victim of selective prosecution, submitting that it was the sole prerogative of the Attorney General (AG) to decide on charges to be preferred against any individual.
The prosecutors also argued that failure to charge other politicians connected to UKSB, if at all there was a need to do so, does not constitute a legal defence for Zahid to rebut the criminal charges that had been filed against him.
On Monday, DPP Zander Lim submitted that if Zahid's arguments of selective prosecution were to be accepted, it would open the floodgates of litigation where all accused persons would claim their constitutional rights have been violated just because the public prosecutor decided to charge him and not the others.
