Witness struggles with 'cheque or cash' poser in Zahid trial
A witness today struggled to explain the exact nature of former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's instruction to him after the defence questioned him about a conflicting sentence in his witness statement.
Omar Ali Abdullah, a money changer who is the 81st witness in Zahid's bribery, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering trial, appeared confused when cross-examined by lead defence counsel Ahmad Zaidi Zainal.
Omar Ali was asked about his witness statement where he said...
A witness today struggled to explain the exact nature of former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's instruction to him after the defence questioned him about a conflicting sentence in his witness statement.
Omar Ali Abdullah, a money changer who is the 81st witness in Zahid's bribery, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering trial, appeared confused when cross-examined by lead defence counsel Ahmad Zaidi Zainal.
Omar Ali was asked about his witness statement where he said Zahid (above) asked him to deposit cash and another part where he said Zahid asked him to deposit cheques, both into Yayasan Akalbudi which is a foundation established by the Bagan Datuk MP.
The witness repeatedly asked Ahmad Zaidi to repeat the question before eventually agreeing with his suggestion.
Omar Ali also agreed with the suggestion that the decision to convert the cash into cheques was done on his own accord and was not Zahid's instruction.
Ahmad Zaidi: I put it to you that Zahid had never asked, or given instruction, or asked for your help to convert cash into cheques before they are deposited into Yayasan Akalbudi. Do you agree?
Omar Ali: Agree.
Ahmad Zaidi: I conclude that Zahid had never, at any point of time, asked or instructed you to seek out (other) money changers, or anyone who wanted a cash exchange, to swap cash for cheques. That was not Zahid's instruction. Do you agree?
Omar Ali: Agree.
However, during reexamination by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi, Omar Ali was asked to explain the exact nature of Zahid's instruction to which he again said he was asked to convert cash into cheques.
"The instruction was for me to receive cash and then convert into cheques for Yayasan Akalbudi," he said.
Omar Ali explained what Zahid did not instruct was on how to convert the cash into cheques, so he decided to get cheques from his money changer friends in exchange for cash he received from unknown men.
On Monday, Omar Ali testified that after initially meeting Zahid where he was asked to help convert money into cheques and then to deposit them into Zahid's foundation, unidentified men had begun to contact him to hand over cash.
Omar Ali said during one such exchange, he was handed around half a million ringgit in Kuala Lumpur.
Testifying today, Omar Ali said he did not have enough cheques to convert the sum he received.
"I don't have that many cheques, I can't get (that many). So I asked my parents who use cash. I give them cash, I take cheque. That was my idea," he said.
Ahmad Sazilee then asked Omar Ali if it wasn't for that idea, would he have any other means to convert the money into cheques to which he replied in the negative.
Omar Ali also said he did not ask Zahid why he had to deposit the cheques to Messr Lewis & Co, the trustee of Yayasan Akalbudi, instead of directly into the foundation's account.
Ahmad Sazilee: Why were the cheques made out to Messrs Lewis & Co?
Omar Ali: That was what Datuk Seri (Zahid) instructed.
Omar Ali had testified that he would ask for the recipient in the cheques to be left blank when they were issued to him in exchange for cheques so that he can address them to Messr Lewis & Co.
Earlier, Ahmad Zaidi, at the start of his cross-examination had asked about Omar Ali's education level and whether he was illiterate.
Omar Ali said his highest qualification was Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP), which is the equivalent of the present day's Form Three examination.
Asked if he had read his witness statement, Omar Ali conceded he couldn't read very well and had to spell slowly.
Ahmad Zaidi: What do you mean by spell slowly?
Omar Ali: It means I don't understand. I can't read fast. I need to spell slowly.
Ahmad Zaidi: Means (you) can read but takes time?
Omar Ali: Yes.
Omar Ali had converted a total of RM8,975,250 received from the unknown men into 35 cheques to be deposited to Messrs Lewis & Co.
The focus on the conversion from cash to cheque is due to the fact that cash does not have a trail and can come from both legitimate and illicit sources while cheques are a stage where funds become recorded within the financial system after they are deposited.
Omar said he couldn't deposit the cash he got from the unknown men into Yayasan Akalbudi as banks will not accept cash of more than RM50,000.
He also agreed that Bank Negara Malaysia's rules require money changers to record all their transactions under anti-money laundering regulations.
Ahmad Zaidi then put to Omar Ali that the cash he received was unrecorded and did not have a money trail but this changed once Omar converted them into cheques.
However, Omar Ali did not appear to understand and asked Ahmad Zaidi to repeat the question multiple times before agreeing.
Zahid is facing 47 charges, comprising 12 charges of criminal breach of trust, 27 charges of money laundering, and eight charges of bribery.
The trial is being presided over by High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
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