Bersatu obtains leave to challenge MACC account seizure

Bersatu has obtained civil court leave to proceed with its judicial review against MACC’s seizure of the opposition party’s two bank accounts.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning granted leave to the party, paving the way for a later hearing of the merits of the legal action.

On April 20, Bersatu’s accounts that were previously frozen by the MACC were seized.

The political party has a separate legal challenge before the High Court against the MACC freezing of the same accounts.

Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid ruled that Bersatu's judicial review against the MACC account seizure is not frivolous or vexatious, contrary to previous oral submissions put forward by MACC's legal team from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).

During the brief online proceedings, the judge also set Nov 28 for further case management of the judicial review.

Ahmad Kamal is presiding on Bersatu’s legal actions on both the MACC’s freezing of the accounts as well as the seizure.

Lawyers Rosli Dahlan and Chetan Jethwani formed part of Bersatu's legal team, while senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan appeared for MACC.

In a media statement after the online proceedings, Rosli said the court ruling was premised on the notion that current law states that the exercise of criminal investigative powers and the decisions of the attorney-general is amenable to judicial review.

Dubious order

Previously, MACC clarified in a statement that the party accounts were seized on April 11 after submitting an order in accordance with Section 50 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorist Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (Amlatfpuaa) 2001.

MACC made the statement in response to a report by The Edge titled ‘Bersatu asks MACC why two accounts still frozen after 90 days’.

“Previously, the accounts involved were frozen on Jan 12 and 13 in accordance with Section 44 of the Amlatfpuaa 2001 to assist investigations.

“Following that, MACC implemented the seizure action on April 11 in relation to the investigation and charges against Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin under the MACC Act 2009 and Amlatfpuaa 2001,” the agency said.

Bersatu contended that the seizure orders were dubious and have been backdated to April 11, whereas the announcement by MACC was made on April 20, hence why MACC has allegedly refused to serve the seizure orders until today.

Back on March 20, Muhyiddin pleaded not guilty to four counts of abuse of power and two money laundering charges involving RM232.5 million.

The four abuse of power charges, framed under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, accused him of using his position as then prime minister and Bersatu president, for an inducement of RM232.5 million from three companies and an individual, between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021.

The three companies are Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, while the individual in question is Azman Yusoff.

The two money laundering charges were laid out under Section 4(1)(b) of the Amlatfpuaa read with Section 87(1) of the same act.

Personal bank accounts

Muhyiddin, 76, is accused of abusing his powers for Bersatu to receive RM120 million of proceeds from illegal activities from Bukhary Equity - between Feb 25, 2021, and July 8, 2022.

The charges did not allege that payment was made to Muhyiddin, hence why his personal bank accounts were never frozen.

The money laundering was allegedly committed by receiving money banked into Bersatu’s account.

According to Bank Negara Malaysia’s official web portal, money laundering is a process of converting cash, funds, or property derived from alleged criminal activities to give it a legitimate appearance.

However, on Aug 15, a separate Kuala Lumpur High Court quashed the abuse of power charges against Muhyiddin and acquitted the former premier, ruling that the charges were defective under the law.

The prosecution has since appealed to the Court of Appeal to reverse this verdict.

However, the money laundering charges against Muhyiddin are still pending before the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.

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