Omar Ali Abdullah, the money changer who allegedly laundered money on behalf of Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the High Court here today that the former deputy prime minister had asked him to help deposit welfare donations into the accounts of charity body Yayasan Akalbudi.
Omar Ali, 48, said Ahmad Zahid also told him that all of the donors who will be contacting him in due course were from Yayasan Al Bukhari (YALB).
"I had never asked (Ahmad Zahidi) why (it had to be done), and only complied with his directives. The accused told me that they (cash) were welfare contributions and if I helped him convert the cash into cheques, I would receive blessings as a result of my assistance,” he said.
He said this when reading his witness statement on the 26th day of the trial of Ahmad Zahid, who is facing 47 criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering charges involving funds belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
The 81st prosecution witness, who said he had no idea why he was chosen for the task, added further that Ahmad Zahid had also asked him to collect the cash from the donors and to convert them into cheques before depositing them into the accounts of Yayasan Akalbudi.
Omar Ali, who has personally known Ahmad Zahid since his 20s, said several men from YALB would contact and then meet him at several locations, among them the ground floor of Fahrenheit Plaza and the lobbies of the Marriot and Grand Millennium hotels.
"I received the first call from a man whom I did not know, who wanted to meet me at the ground floor of Fahrenheit Plaza and the man passed me a luggage bag filled with cash.
“There was no conversation, once I had the bag I drove straight home, where I counted the money inside (the bag),” he said, adding that the total amount came up to about half a million ringgit.
Omar Ali, the owner of money changers Marhaba Enterprise Sdn Bhd, said each time he received cash that way, he would immediately convert the cash into cheques before depositing the money into Yayasan Akalbudi’s accounts as instructed by Ahmad Zahidi.
“Once I received money from this unidentified man, the accused would call me over the phone and asked me to convert the cash into cheques and then deposit them into Yayasan Akalbudi’s accounts.
"Normally, I would take between one and two weeks to do that. Once the cash has been converted into cheques, I will pass the bank slips to the accused at his house,” he said.
Omar Ali said while he was at Ahmad Zahidi’s house circa early 2016 to pass the bank slips, the accused had instructed him to deposit the cheques into the accounts of Messrs Lewis Co, a trustee of Yayasan Akalbudi.
“I did not ask him why they were deposited into Lewis Co and not Yayasan Akalbudi.
“Later on, I was contacted by a man, whom I do not know as well, and I went to meet him before he passed on cash in a luggage bag to me, just like how it was before with the other man. I took the bag and went straight home,” he testified.
For the 27th charge, Ahmad Zahid is accused of having committed money-laundering by instructing Omar Ali to convert for him a cash amount of RM6,885,300.20, which is income from illegal activities, into 30 cheques that were given to Messrs Lewis Co for the opening of Maybank fixed deposit accounts.
Ahmad Zahid, 67, is facing 47 charges, with 12 of them involving criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit of funds belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
The trial before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Mon Jul 27 2020
Ahmad Zahid, 67, is facing 47 charges, with 12 of them involving criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit of funds belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Pengundi tentukan kemenangan, bukan Tun M - Azmin
Kemenangan DAP dalam PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu hanya akan ditentukan oleh pengundi dan bukannya bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Calon PN sah miliki Sarjana Eksekutif UMPSA
Calon Perikatan Nasional (PN), Khairul Azhari Saut, 54, disahkan memiliki Sarjana Eksekutif Pengurusan Perniagaan dari Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA).
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Calon PN tunjuk bukti kelayakan akademik
Calon Perikatan Nasional (PN) bagi Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Kuala Kubu Baharu, Khairul Azhari Saut menunjukkan bukti berkaitan kelayakan akademiknya bagi menjawab isu berkenaan.
Enakmen kawalan hiburan baharu, Kelantan yakin tidak bercanggah
Kerajaan Kelantan yakin proses penggubalan Enakmen Kawalan Hiburan baharu Kelantan yang akan dibentang pada sidang Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) selepas ini tidak bercanggah dengan aturan sedia ada.
Misi teroka peluang ekonomi, tarik pelaburan baharu di WEF - PM
Delegasi Malaysia akan berkongsi dasar dan hala tuju negara di samping mempertegas pendirian negara dalam isu geopolitik serantau di hadapan pemimpin dunia.
JBPM Terengganu berdepan kesukaran padam kebakaran
JBPM Terengganu menghadapi kesukaran memadamkan kebakaran di Kampung Sungai Ikan Kuala Nerus yang melibatkan lebih 75% tapak pelupusan sampah
Polis jangka laporan baharu selepas berkas guru tahfiz
Polis Kelantan menjangkakan lebih banyak laporan polis berkenaan pencabulan di sebuah pusat tahfiz di Machang selepas penahanan seorang guru.
Polis Jerman rampas 4 kereta Bugatti Veyron edisi terhad yang dikaitkan dengan 1MDB
Kenderaan berkenaan dikatakan sebahagian daripada siri "Legenda" khas Bugatti Veyron, dengan hanya 18 daripada supercar tersebut dibina dalam enam spesifikasi.
Gempa kuat 6.5 skala Richter gegar Garut, impak dirasai hingga Jakarta
Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi dan Geofisika (BMKG) Indonesia merekodkan gempa berkekuatan 6.5 skala Richter pada malam Sabtu.
EPL: Jika saya bercakap akan berlaku pergaduhan - Salah
Salah sangat tegang dengan Klopp ketika dia bersedia untuk masuk sebagai pemain gantian pada minit ke-79.
Bank berjaya sekat RM383 juta urus niaga penipuan pada 2023
Chong berkata, pencapaian 15 bank di Malaysia membuktikan komitmen mereka terhadap langkah pencegahan penipuan yang kukuh.
Kadar antara bank jangka pendek ditutup stabil, disokong operasi BNM
Bank pusat menawarkan tender pasaran wang konvensional, satu tender repo berbalik dan satu tender Qard.
Bank dan syarikat telekomunikasi di Singapura mungkin perlu bayar kepada mangsa penipuan
SRF menetapkan tanggungjawab relevan kepada institusi kewangan dan syarikat telekomunikasi untuk mengurangkan penipuan pancingan data.
Bank-bank sambut baik ciri-ciri progresif dalam Belanjawan 2024
CEO OCBC Bank Tan Chor Sen berkata, inisiatif kerajaan berpandangan jauh dalam mencapai cita-cita Ekonomi MADANI.
Permodalan sistem perbankan Malaysia kekal kukuh pada separuh pertama 2023 - BNM
BNM berkata, nisbah perlindungan mudah tunai dan nisbah pendanaan stabil bersih agregat kekal jauh melebihi paras minimum pengawalseliaan.
Tiga cedera ringan, polis bantuan tertembak lantai bank
Tiga cedera ringan apabila seorang polis bantuan lelaki dipercayai terlepas tembakan ketika berurusan di sebuah bank di Pekan Jasin, di sini, pada Selasa.
Pertumbuhan pinjaman bank diunjur lebih perlahan jika KDNK lebih lemah daripada jangkaan - Maybank IB
Pertumbuhan pinjaman terus menjadi menyederhana pada Julai 2023 kepada 4.2% dari tahun ke tahun.
6 bank Itali jadi mangsa serangan siber
Enam bank utama Itali mendakwa menjadi mangsa serangan siber kumpulan penggodam pro-Rusia dikenali NoName057(16), lapor Sputnik memetik media Itali pada Selasa.
Bank tingkatkan ciri-ciri keselamatan bagi perangi penipuan, scam
Institusi perbankan di Malaysia akan terus menyesuaikan dan menambah baik ciri-ciri keselamatan mereka, selaras dengan lima langkah utama Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) untuk memerangi penipuan kewangan.
Peminjam perlu hubungi bank bincang pilihan bayaran balik kewangan
ABM sedia bantu peminjam perniagaan kecil yang hadapi kesukaran membayar balik hutang disebabkan peningkatan kos pinjaman berikutan kenaikan OPR.