KUALA LUMPUR (July 16): Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's comments over the alleged "revocation" of tax breaks for Yayasan Albukhary were not targeted at former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.
Rather, the Bersatu chief said that it was merely an explanation of what transpired when the authorities questioned him in March last year prior to him being charged for corruption and money laundering.
Muhyiddin, who took the stand on Tuesday to testify in Lim's defamation suit against him, said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had questioned him on two issues: the Jana Wibawa programme and tax breaks for businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary's charity foundation.
The former PM added that Yayasan Albukhary was given tax breaks under the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, but he had received an appeal from the organisation in 2021 when he was the prime minister under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Muhyiddin also asked why the foundation would approach him years later if the tax breaks continued with the previous administration, Pakatan Harapan (PH).
"To me, there is no need for [the foundation] to appeal to me when PN is the government if the tax exemption is still validated by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB). Therefore, the IRB's refusal to validate the tax breaks must have happened during PH's time in office, and [Lim] was the finance minister then [who oversees IRB]," he said.
The 77-year-old added that he was merely conveying all this to the press who were waiting for him after he was questioned by the graft busters.
"People want to know [what transpired]. [The press] were not even invited [that day]," he explained during cross-examination by Lim's counsel Guok Ngek Seong.
Muhyiddin said that he disagreed that his comments defamed Lim, rather he was merely stating facts per his understanding regarding tax breaks for the Islamic charitable organisation.
"It was the logical sequence of events. There was no malicious intent [...]," he said.
Tax breaks granted during Najib's administration but not recognised later
On Monday, a letter from Yayasan Albukhary signed by Syed Mokhtar to Muhyiddin in February 2021 over the withdrawal of the tax exemption was tendered to court.
The letter stated that the foundation was given tax breaks amounting RM2.65 billion from 2016 until 2018 through the Finance Ministry that were not recognised "recently".
Former PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak helmed the BN government during this period, where he was also the finance minister.
The letter also stated that the tax breaks were granted to companies under the Yayasan Albukhary umbrella for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.
The CSR programmes, among others, comprise the construction of Islamic Art Museum, National Mosque renovation works, Albukhary Dialysis Center and Albukhary International University.
Letter doesn't expressly mention PH or Lim
The Pagoh MP said he had subsequently forwarded the letter to then finance minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz for his consideration, who later allowed the appeal sometime in 2021.
However, the letter does not expressly name the PH government or Lim. When this was highlighted by Guok during the cross-examination, Muhyiddin said he agreed that the parties were not named but it was his understanding that the "revocation" took place during PH and Lim's time in office.
Muhyiddin also said that he did not offer an apology to Lim because to him, Muhyiddin has not done anything wrong.
The trial before Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain continues on Wednesday.