The number of corruption charges against former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has increased to seven after he entered a not-guilty plea to yet another money-laundering charge involving RM5 million in allegedly illegal funds.
Muhyiddin was charged this morning under Section 4(1)(b) of the 2001 Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.
He pleaded not guilty to the money-laundering charge, in which he was accused of receiving RM5 million in alleged proceeds from illegal activities from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd into Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s AmBank account on Jan. 7, 2022, at AmBank’s Amcorp Mall branch.
Sessions Court judge Rozilah Salleh allowed the previous RM2 million bail which Muhyiddin had paid for his six charges in Kuala Lumpur to be used as bail for today’s charge.
Muhyiddin, 75, presided over the country during the height of the pandemic from March 2020 until his resignation in August 2021.
If found guilty, he would become Malaysia’s second former prime minister to have his reputation tarnished by a conviction for corruption. In 2022, former leader Najib Razak received a 12-year prison sentence for his role in the 1MDB financial scandal, which toppled his government four years earlier.
Muhyiddin claimed trial in the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur on six charges last Friday, including four counts of corruption and two counts of money laundering.
He was charged with four counts of alleged abuse of power as the then-prime minister and president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia for a total of RM232.5 million in alleged bribes from three companies and one individual (Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, Azman Yusoff) for his party from March 2020 to August 2021. On conviction, the penalty is a maximum 20-year prison sentence and a fine of not less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is greater.
The remaining two counts were for alleged money laundering of RM195 million in illegal funds from the company Bukhary Equity Sdn. Bhd, with Muhyiddin accused of receiving and depositing the funds into Bersatu’s CIMB bank account in 2021 and 2022 at CIMB’s Menara KL branch.
On conviction, the penalty is a maximum 15-year prison sentence and a fine of RM5 million or five times the amount involved, whichever is greater.
These cases will be heard at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur on May 26.
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