Puad, who was Umno’s Batu Pahat MP, said Shafee was a credible and well-known lawyer who would not make groundless accusations.
“His revelation that Mahathir wanted him to become the special prosecutor in Anwar’s trial has opened the Pandora’s box most feared by Mahathir.
“Mahathir is proven to have interfered with national affairs, used threats and prioritised his personal agenda,” he said in a Facebook post today.
Last week, an officer in the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) released an affidavit alleging that two cheques worth RM9.5 million were issued to Shafee by former prime minister Najib Razak.
Siti Rahayu Mohd Mumazaini said the information was obtained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission after the issuance of an order under Subsection 44(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act to freeze Shafee’s CIMB bank account.
Shafee later acknowledged receiving the money but said it was part of the fees owed to him for legal services provided for Umno and BN since the 1990s.
He also claimed that Mahathir had wanted him to become the special prosecutor in the trial as the veteran statesman did not have confidence in the AGC to manage the appeal.
He said this was despite Najib’s reluctance for him to fill the position as he did not want to offend former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail.
Puad said it was possible that Mahathir had called Gani until his wish for Shafee to be appointed as special prosecutor by way of fiat (authorisation) was fulfilled.
He compared this to a separate incident in which Mahathir had held a private meeting with Johor Umno at the Pullman Hotel in Putrajaya.
In the meeting, he said, Mahathir said he had met with Najib who agreed to rebuild the “crooked bridge”, a six-lane S-shaped highway that would allow vessels to pass beneath it, on condition that Johor Umno agreed.
“Johor Umno did not agree, which was one reason why Mahathir was angry with Najib.”
He said even more shocking was the fact that lawyer Matthias Chang had said the prime minister had six demands to make of Najib.
“If they were not fulfilled, Mahathir would go against him,” he added.
“What were the demands? Is this practice of threatening people still around today, so much so that the Pakatan Harapan ministers including DAP and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail follow him so meekly?”
Puad said it was clear that Mahathir had interfered in the case for personal reasons, adding that he had stabbed Anwar in the back.
“He wanted Anwar jailed. But now he has been forced to free Anwar,” he said, questioning the probability of the PKR leader taking over as the eighth prime minister.
“The prime minister and his right-hand man, Matthias, need to break their silence on this as it involves serious allegations and threatens their credibility.
“The people, the Bar Council, Umno, PAS, and NGOs including government NGOs should make police reports, and the police should conduct a full investigation into the matter.”