Kuala lumpur: The prosecution is in the process of finalizing the witness statement of former Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in the case against Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Muhyiddin faces charges related to the alleged abuse of his position involving RM232.5 million in bribes and RM200 million from illicit activities.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin informed High Court Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin that 99.5 percent of the witness statements have been provided to the defence, with only Tengku Zafrul's statement pending. It is expected that Tengku Zafrul's statement will be handed to the defence two weeks before he is scheduled to testify in court.
Muhyiddin's lawyer, Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, has confirmed receipt of the statements but noted that the defence has yet to receive one from businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari. Amer Hamzah sought confirmation on whether Syed Mokhtar will be called to testify, acknowledging the prosecution's discretion in this matter. He raised this issue as Syed Mokhtar's name was not included in the prosecution's witness list.
Wan Shaharuddin explained that the witness list submitted today pertains only to the Projek Jana Wibawa case, and that Syed Mokhtar's name had been included in the witness list for the money laundering charges, which was provided to the defence three years ago. He added that if no witness statement is submitted for Syed Mokhtar, he would likely testify orally.
Judge Noor Ruwena has directed the prosecution to submit the complete witness list by this Friday. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was absent from today's proceedings, having been granted leave by the court.
The court has previously scheduled 29 hearing days for the case, spanning from March to August of this year. On October 7 of the previous year, the Attorney General's Chambers rejected an application from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to have seven charges against him dismissed.
The charges against Muhyiddin, who was Prime Minister and Bersatu president at the time, include four counts of abuse of power for allegedly soliciting RM232.5 million in bribes for the political party from various entities in connection with the Jana Wibawa project. The alleged offences occurred at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya between March 2020 and August 2021.
Additionally, the Pagoh member of parliament faces three charges of receiving RM200 million in illegal proceeds from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, which were deposited into Bersatu's Ambank and CIMB Bank accounts. These offences allegedly took place at specific bank branches in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between early 2021 and mid-2022.