https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/120538/muhyiddin-trial-banker-confirms-rm19.3-million-in-cheques-deposited-into-bersatu-account

A CIMB Bank branch manager told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that RM19.3 million was deposited into Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) bank account through 28 cheques between August 2021 and November 2022, as proceedings continued in the corruption and money laundering trial of former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The testimony forms part of the prosecution’s attempt to establish financial flows into the political party’s account while Muhyiddin served as prime minister and president of Bersatu.

Lee Hui Nee, 58, manager of the CIMB Bank branch at Menara CIMB KL Sentral, appeared as the prosecution’s second witness and confirmed that the deposits were reflected in both the cheques and the party’s CIMB bank statements.

She told the court that among the 28 cheques deposited into Bersatu’s account, four were CIMB cheques issued by Datuk Azman Yusoff amounting to RM4 million.

Another cheque, dated September 10, 2021 and issued by Mamfor Sdn Bhd through Bank Muamalat, amounted to RM1 million.

Muhyiddin is accused of abusing his position as prime minister and Bersatu president to obtain bribes totalling RM225.3 million from three companies — Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd — as well as from Azman Yusoff for the benefit of his “associate”, namely the Bersatu party.

The prosecution is also seeking to prove that Muhyiddin committed money laundering by receiving allegedly illegal funds totalling RM200 million, comprising RM120 million and RM75 million deposited into Bersatu’s CIMB account and RM5 million deposited into the party’s AmBank account.

During questioning by Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Lee said she recalled that the total amount of funds entering Bersatu’s CIMB account was in the “tens of millions”.

She also confirmed that the deposits occurred after December 1, 2020.

When asked whether CIMB had filed Suspicious Transaction Reports in connection with the deposits, Lee initially said she could not confirm this as such reports are confidential and cannot ordinarily be disclosed.

Wan Shaharuddin then argued that disclosure was necessary for fairness as all parties, including the court and Muhyiddin, would want to know.

Lee subsequently explained that the bank would automatically file such reports when irregularities were detected.

“For transactions that are unusual, very large amount, STRs will be raised,” she said.

Asked specifically whether such reports were issued in relation to Bersatu’s account, Lee confirmed that Suspicious Transaction Reports had indeed been generated, although she did not state when or how many had been submitted.

In further questioning by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mahadi Jumaat, Lee explained that the bank’s internal monitoring system would trigger “red flags” when an account records unusually high volumes of transactions that do not correspond with its expected activity profile.

“An account that has transactions with very high volume and is inconsistent with the account profile,” she said.

She explained that once such alerts appear, the branch reviews the account and forwards a Suspicious Transaction Report to CIMB’s headquarters.

Lee confirmed that her branch had submitted such reports regarding the Bersatu account but said the branch had no knowledge of subsequent developments, as the reports would be handled confidentially between CIMB’s headquarters and Bank Negara Malaysia.

Asked why she considered the deposits inconsistent with the account profile, Lee replied that the frequency and size of the transactions were unusually high.

“Because the frequency and amount is very high,” she said.

Earlier in her testimony, Lee stated that the individuals who originally applied to open the account included Muhyiddin along with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Kamarulzaman Habibur Rahman and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

She told the court that the account’s authorised signatories were changed on December 1, 2020 to Muhyiddin, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin and Datuk Mohamed Salleh Bajuri.

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad highlighted that no Suspicious Transaction Report had been produced in court as evidence.

Lee agreed that she had no knowledge of what occurred between CIMB and Bank Negara Malaysia after the reports were submitted and could not conclude that the transactions were unlawful.

Amer Hamzah then suggested that the filing of a Suspicious Transaction Report does not automatically indicate a legal offence.

“The final decision lies with Bank Negara Malaysia,” Lee replied.

He further suggested that only the central bank has the authority to determine whether any illegal conduct had taken place.

“Yes, I agree,” the witness said.

Amer Hamzah concluded by suggesting that it would therefore be inappropriate to assume that the transactions were illegal.

“I agree,” Lee responded.

Muhyiddin, 79, who is also the Member of Parliament for Pagoh, faces four charges of abusing his position to obtain bribes linked to the Jana Wibawa programme.

He also faces three counts of money laundering involving funds allegedly deposited into Bersatu’s bank accounts at CIMB Bank and AmBank branches in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022.

The trial before High Court judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin continues tomorrow.