Defence grills Zahid's secretary on 'carelessness' with foundation cheques
ZAHID TRIAL | The corruption trial of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today witnessed the defence grilling the Umno president's former executive secretary over her alleged carelessness in dealing with Yayasan Akalbudi cheques.
Defence lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal questioned where Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly knew how to pay off Zahid's credit cards seeing as she did not have any of her own...
ZAHID TRIAL | The corruption trial of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today witnessed the defence grilling the Umno president's former executive secretary over her alleged carelessness in dealing with Yayasan Akalbudi cheques.
Defence lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal questioned where Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly knew how to pay off Zahid's credit cards seeing as she did not have any of her own.
Zaidi: Do you know, for card payments, you only need one cheque for one statement. Do you know? There's no need for two or three cheques for one statement (that also contains supplementary cards).
Mazlina: I know.
He then brought up "mistakes" she made in paying off Zahid's credit cards such as paying more than needed.
He referred to a Dec 28, 2013 credit card statement which had a statement balance of RM65,1532.32.
Mazlina had paid RM71,283.17 for that statement in two separate cheques of RM63,701.52 and RM7,581.65 based on the current outstanding for two cards in the same statement.
Zaidi: This was a mistake you made. True?
Mazlina: Yes.
Mazlina also agreed that she did not show the cheques to Zahid, and admitted to using a stamp of his signature for a cheque payment on Jan 9, 2014, eight days from the credit card payment due date on Jan 17, 2014.
Previously, she had said that she used the stamp of Zahid's signature for Yayasan Akalbudi cheques to expedite the cheque issuance because he was very busy and to avoid the card being blocked due to late payment.
Meanwhile, Zaidi also questioned if Mazlina had erroneously dated two cheques Jan 7, 2014, when it was meant to pay a Jan 28, 2014 statement.
Zaidi: This also showed your carelessness. True?
Mazlina: Yes.
Meanwhile, Mazlina also admitted to paying RM20,858.36 for a Feb 28, 2014 statement after misreading the previous balance instead of the RM8,001.54 statement balance.
She also made a payment of RM2,600 in two cheques to settle a minimum payment for a March 28, 2014 statement that had a balance of RM64,668.24.
For all these cheques, Mazlina admitted to using a stamp of Zahid's signatures.
She had agreed that the stamp was actually meant for invitation cards, as well as stamping certificates in bulk.
She also agreed with Zaidi's suggestion that Zahid was experienced with credit cards owing to his background as a former top bank executive.
However, Mazlina said she did not know that banks would not accept cheques that had been stamped without a resolution from the account holder.
Zaidi said Yayasan Akalbudi never made a resolution or given banks any specimens to allow the use of stamps on the foundation's cheques.
Zaidi: Based on this, if I said it was not logical that Zahid, as a former senior bank officer, allowed you to use his signature stamp for the cheque. Agree?
Mazlina: I disagree.
Mazlina had previously testified that Zahid had permitted her to use the stamp in 2014.
Zaidi contests that the permission was just one-off and Mazlina agreed she assumed that it was a blank approval.
Zaidi: I say that Zahid never at any time gave permission to use a signature stamp for Yayasan Akalbudi cheques. Agree?
Mazlina: I disagree.
Zaidi then referred Mazlina to 11 credit card statements from June 2014 to March 2015 and questioned her on supposed mistakes in preparing the cheques as before.
Zaidi also referred her to 15 credit card statements and 30 cheques, most of which Mazlina admitted to having signed using Zahid’s signature stamp.
For several transactions, Zaidi asked Mazlina why she continued to use the stamp even for payments that were made past the due date which was at odds with her testimony that she used the stamp to avoid late payments.
Zaidi: If it is already past the due date, why not go and see Zahid and let him sign off the cheque since it is already late, compared to use using the stamp yourself? Try explaining.
Mazlina: I don’t remember.
When asked to explain several other transactions, Mazlina likewise often answered “I don’t remember” or “I overlooked”.
One cheque involved an account number that Zaidi said was not recognised and was not linked to any principle or supplementary credit cards in Zahid’s credit card statement.
Zaidi: Whose credit card is this?
Mazlina: I don’t remember.
However, Mazlina did not agree with Zaidi’s suggestion that she never showed the credit card statements to Zahid although the former deputy prime minister had asked to see them.
Zaidi: I say Mazlina had hidden the monthly credit card statements out of fear that Zahid would learn of the earlier mistakes. Agree?
Mazlina: No.
Witness denies being close to Zahid’s family
Earlier in the morning, Zaidi had questioned Mazlina on her time as Zahid’s executive secretary.
The cross-examination became heated when the prosecution raised objections that the questions were “insulting” to Mazlina and Zaidi was asked to rephrase his questions to Mazlina.
When Zaidi asked about her relationship to Zahid’s wife Hamidah Khamis that was said to be very close as though she was part of the family, Mazlina denied this.
When serving as Zahid’s executive secretary, her post as Hamidah’s aide-de-camp was taken over by a police officer named ASP Zamzarina, and their relationship became close, the court was told.
Zaidi proposed this development had unsettled her, but Mazlina denied this though she admitted she had complained to Zahid that Zamzarina didn’t know how to perform her duties.
Zaidi: There was one incident where Zamzarina went to see Zahid crying and begging for her aide-de-camp assignment to be transferred back to the Home Ministry because she couldn’t stand Mazlina’s complaints.
Mazlina: I disagree.
Zaidi: I say that, in the end, Zamzarina was transferred to the Home Ministry and back to the police, agree?
Mazlina: Agree.
Zahid is facing 47 charges, of which 12 are a criminal breach of trust involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds, eight charges of corruption, and 27 charges of money laundering.
For the CBT charges, he is accused of misappropriating RM31 million of the foundation's funds. Zahid is the founder, trustee, and sole signatory for the foundation.
The defence is arguing that the Yayasan Akalbudi cheques were stamped with Zahid's approval and that Mazlina was supposed to make payments using his personal funds.
The prosecution is led by Raja Rozela Raja Toran while the defence is led by Hisyam Teh Poh Teik.
The trial is currently on its 40th day and will resume on Sept 21.
Editor's note: Based on legal advice, the commenting feature for the above article has been disabled.
