Zahid lawyers suggest RM360k to print Quran, but ex-EC deputy says otherwise
Lawyers representing Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday posited questions in court, that RM360,000 paid from Yayasan Akalbudi to a firm that was used to print Qurans.
However, a former Election Commission (EC) deputy chief who supervises TS Consultancy & Resources (TS) testified today the company only does work related to registering voters.
Lawyers representing Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had yesterday suggested in court that RM360,000 paid from Yayasan Akalbudi to a firm was used to print copies of the Quran.
However, a former Election Commission (EC) deputy chief who supervised TS Consultancy & Resources (TS) testified today that the company only did work related to registering voters.
Former EC deputy chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (photo, above) said the work by TS included strategising ways to register qualified Malaysians who had yet to become voters.
He said this while being re-examined by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Afif Ali.
Afif: So besides the work explained, does TS do any other work?
Wan Ahmad: Oh, no (we don't).
Wan Ahmad was testifying at Zahid's money laundering and criminal breach of trust case involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
Yesterday, Zahid's lawyers had tried to posit to TS owners Sabri Said and Jasni Majid that some RM360,000 the company received from Akalbudi was for the printing of copies of the Quran.
Jasni testified that he did not know if this was the case, while Sabri said he did not know if Zahid had discussed the printing job with Wan Ahmad.
Wan Ahmad in his statement today said TS received the RM360,000 via two cheques.
The first cheque for RM100,000 was issued in 2015, while the second cheque for RM260,000 was issued in 2016.
In a cross-examination today, questions pertaining to the printing job was once again raised by the counsel Ahmad Zaidi, but this time to Wan Ahmad.
When Ahmad Zaidi asked if Wan Ahmad knew that some of the RM360,000 in amount given through cheques to TS would be used to bear the printing cost of the Quran, he said: "No."
Meanwhile, another counsel, Hamidi Mohd Noh showed Wan Ahmad a screenshot of a list of voters registration centres on the EC website.
Hamid: Do you agree that the name TS is not in the list?
Wan Ahmad: That's right
Based on the EC website, the centres include the EC headquarters in Putrajaya, state election offices nationwide, post office with computers nationwide, district office or district council office, and public places such as night markets, shopping malls, or housing areas visited by the EC Outreach Team.
However, during the examination by Afif, Wan Ahmad explained that although TS was not in the list, its officers were authorised registrar assistants who were could register voters.
Wan Ahmad, in his witness statement, said he had been instructed to form TS in 2015 by then deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Zahid replaced Muhyiddin that same year after which Wan Ahmad said he gave a briefing to Zahid about TS' financial constraints.
Zahid is facing a total of 47 charges, including 12 criminal breaches of trust, eight counts of receiving gratification and 27 counts of money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi's funds.
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