Continuing her testimony in former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s corruption trial, Norazeanti Miswan, an assistant manager at Bank Muamalat’s PKNS Shah Alam branch, said the letters were attached to remittance forms used to transfer funds to Bersatu.
Yesterday, Norazeanti, 39, told the court Mamfor had transferred RM19.5 million through 29 banker’s cheques to Bersatu in 2021 and 2022.
The ninth prosecution witness also testified that the branch flagged the transactions and submitted questionable activity reports to its headquarters because of the unusual frequency and large sums involved.
During cross-examination by Muhyiddin’s counsel, Amer Hamzah Arshad, she was referred to documents containing letters addressed to Bersatu headquarters.
Amer: All the letters stated (they were) contributions to Bersatu?
Norazeanti: Agree.
Amer: Do you agree that they were all addressed to the party treasurer, not the president?
Norazeanti: Agree.
Amer: All these documents were given to the bank as supporting documents?
Norazeanti: Agree.
Norazeanti also agreed with Amer’s assertion that the filing of the questionable activity reports over unusual transactions did not in itself mean the transactions were unlawful.
She confirmed that the bank’s headquarters had not instructed her to stop processing transactions involving Mamfor, despite multiple questionable activity reports being submitted.
She also agreed with the defence that based on the supporting letters and accompanying documents, the contributions were meant for Bersatu and not Muhyiddin personally.
Muhyiddin, 78, faces seven charges linked to the Jana Wibawa programme, a government initiative introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to assist Bumiputera contractors.
The Bersatu president and former prime minister is charged with four counts of abusing his position to solicit RM225.3 million in bribes for the party from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor, and businessman Azman Yusoff.
The offences were allegedly committed at the Prime Minister’s Office between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021.
Muhyiddin also faces three counts of money laundering involving RM200 million, allegedly received from Bukhary Equity and deposited into Bersatu’s accounts at AmBank and CIMB Bank.
The offences are said to have taken place at AmBank in Petaling Jaya and at CIMB Bank on Jalan Stesen Sentral between Feb 25, 2021, and July 8, 2022.
The defence team comprises Amer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Rosli Dahlan, Chetan Jethwani, K Kumaraendran, Kee Wei Loon, Low Wei Loke, Siti Summaiyah Ahmad Jaafar, Lee Yei Wei, Tang Jia Yearn and Joshua Tay.
The prosecution team includes Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Akram Gharib, Noralis Mat, Mahadi Jumaat, Alis Izzati Azurin Rusdi and Safari Abdullah.
The hearing before Justice Noor Ruwena Nurdin will continue on May 25.