KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 6): Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has submitted a letter of representation to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) seeking the withdrawal of seven charges against him involving abuse of power and receiving funds from unlawful activities linked to the Jana Wibawa scandal.
The representation is currently under consideration by the AGC, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin informed High Court judge K Muniandy during a case mention in proceedings on Wednesday.
The letter was submitted by Muhyiddin’s lawyers at the end of July, the court heard. This is the first representation submitted in relation to the case.
While the details of the representation were not given in court, it is understood that the representation letter sent to the AGC drew attention to past court cases which held that acceptance of political donations was not an offence.
In particular, the letter cited court cases involving former federal territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
Umno treasurer Tengku Adnan, known as Ku Nan, was in July 2021 acquitted by the Court of Appeal (COA) for receiving RM2 million when serving in the Cabinet. Syed Saddiq was acquitted by the COA of two charges involving funds totalling RM1.12 million in June, although the prosecution is appealing the case.
While Ku Nan and Syed Saddiq had both received donations in their personal accounts, Muhyiddin did not have funds flow through his personal accounts — instead all donations went to Bersatu's party accounts.
It is understood that the representation also mentioned former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who has not been charged, although the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recovered RM176 million in cash from various safe houses.
The representation further drew attention to MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki's statement in 2017 that the MACC had no purview of political funding and that it was not an offence.
The court has fixed Oct 7 for the next mention. Muhyiddin was present in court, accompanied by lawyers Rosli Dahlan and Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad.
In June, Muhyiddin’s application to move the case to the High Court was allowed as the preceding judge, Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin, said he believed the constitutional issues were “of extraordinary difficulty” and thought it would be faster for the High Court to handle them.
The Perikatan Nasional chairman was brought to court in 2023 to face seven charges: four for abuse of power and three for money laundering.
Muhyiddin, 78, who is the Bersatu president and the then prime minister, was charged with four counts of abuse of power for allegedly soliciting RM232.5 million in bribes for the political party from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Datuk Azman Yusoff in connection with Jana Wibawa, a series of government projects awarded during the Covid-19 pandemic with a focus on Bumiputera contractors.
The Pagoh member of Parliament’s remaining three charges allege him of receiving RM200 million in illegal proceeds from Bukhary Equity, which were deposited into Bersatu's AmBank and CIMB Bank accounts.