KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1): Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's former secretary testified on Tuesday (Aug 1) that the deputy prime minister had never sanctioned the use of stamps bearing his signature on cheques when dealing with his day to day accounts.
Datuk Rosiah Osman, who served as Zahid’s secretary from January 1994 until her mandatory retirement in December 2011, said the signature stamps were only used for signing festive greeting cards and certificates to save time and effort.
She explained that Zahid used to issue around 4,000 greeting cards during festivals like Hari Raya Aidilfitri, and in the case case of certficates, about 500 copies are issued each time.
“Signing them one by one would have been very tiring,” she testified in Zahid’s corruption and criminal breach of trust trial at the High Court.
Rosiah said she always kept the stamps bearing his signature in a locked metal cabinet.
She said that upon her retirement in 2011, she had handed over all the stamps and cheque books involving Zahid personally and his charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi, to her successor Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly in December 2011.
Zahid’s lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh then showed Rosiah a number of cheques which Major Mazlina had issued in 2014 and 2015 for Yayasan Akalbudi where Zahid’s stamped signature was used to sign off.
She said that banks should not have allowed this.
When Zahid took the stand in his defence last year, he testified that Mazlina had been negligent in handling his accounts as well as finances in Yayasan Akalbudi which led to him being charged.
He had said that among the negligence his former executive secretary committed was failing to understand and read his credit card statements which caused her to make either insufficient or excessive payments.
He said Mazlina had testified in court that she did not know, was unsure and could not remember matters regarding the management of his credit card bills, apart from admitting to being negligent in handling the expenses.
Zahid had testified that Mazlina used the stamps without his knowledge.
“Mazlina had used my signature stamp on the Yayasan Akalbudi cheques that were used to pay for personal credit card bills as well as my wife’s (Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis) without my knowledge... the stamp should have been used on certificates of appreciation and festive season greeting cards,” he had said.
Zahid, who is also Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, is facing 47 charges.
He claimed trial to the 12 counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), eight counts of corruption, and 27 counts of money laundering, involving RM31 million of Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
For the 12 CBT charges, Zahid is alleged to have used the funds to make payments for personal credit cards, insurance policies and licences for his personal vehicles, remittances to a law firm, and contributions to the Royal Malaysian Police football association.
The charges, under Section 409 of the Penal Code, each carries a maximum of 20 years in jail, whipping and fine.
The trial continues before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Wednesday (Aug 2).