Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi returned to MACC today for the fifth time to facilitate a series of probes related to the funds of welfare foundation Yayasan Akal Budi.

Zahid, clad in a striped batik shirt, arrived at the graftbuster’s headquarters in Putrajaya at 3pm.

He waved and smiled to members of the media who were waiting for him in the lobby, without speaking.

Yesterday, a source close to the investigation said the Umno president would be investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla), as well as Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009, which deals with abuse of power.

Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam had also said in a statement that Zahid has been given notice to surrender himself at the MACC headquarters, and that he is expected to be charged on Friday.

However, at press time, there was no confirmation by MACC regarding the claims.

In July, Zahid was questioned twice by MACC. The first round of questioning concerned the alleged donation by the Saudi royal family to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, while the second round was in relation to Yayasan Akal Budi's funds.

It was reported that RM800,000 had allegedly been misappropriated from the foundation to pay credit card bills for Zahid and his wife.

Zahid had said that funds from the welfare foundation, of which he is the chairperson, had indeed been used to clear credit card debts, but claimed that this was due to a mistake by his officer.

This month alone, Zahid has been summoned three consecutive times by the graft-buster agency, with the most recent session being on Oct 12.

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