Muhyiddin, Shafie received UKSB funds, Zahid trial told

(FMT) – A former Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) administrative manager told the High Court in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial that Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal received funds from the company.

David Tan said the former prime minister received RM1.3 million between June and August 2018.

Yesterday, Tan told the court he kept a ledger of payments made to Zahid between 2014 and 2018 in spreadsheet files on his laptop computer. He said those named in the ledger were “ministers, politicians and government servants”.

Under cross-examination today by lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh, Tan said Muhyiddin, Shafie, former foreign minister Anifah Aman, and former deputy foreign minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican were also recorded in the ledger, filed under code names.

However, Tan did not specify the amount of money paid to Shafie, Anifah and Reezal Merican, nor their code names.

At the material time, Muhyiddin was home minister in the Pakatan Harapan administration while Shafie was Sabah’s chief minister. Reezal Merican is currently the housing and local government minister.

UKSB was the firm that handled the foreign visa system, or VLN, for Chinese tourists. They were appointed by the government in 2016.

The company was implicated in Zahid’s corruption charges, with the former deputy prime minister standing trial on 33 corruption charges.

Yesterday, Tan said Zahid’s name was recorded in his ledger with the code names “monster”, “young boy” and “yb”. He said he used the code name “monster” as he was eating a Mamee Monster snack when he was writing up the ledger.

According to Tan, his laptop with the spreadsheet files containing the list of payments as well as USB pen drives where he kept copies, were seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in October 2018.

Previously, the court heard testimony from former UKSB directors – Harry Tan and Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani – in which they said the company made millions in cash payments, in Singapore dollars, to Zahid from 2014 to 2018 over the VLN contract.

Wan Quoris was reported to have said that the financial assistance to Zahid was aimed at strengthening their position as a home ministry contractor.

He added that, with the assistance, UKSB had not just secured support from the former deputy prime minister but also managed to reduce competitive disruption from other companies running the same business.

The hearing continues before judge Yazid Mustafa on July 26.