After prosecutors withdrew their charm against his conviction by the Shah Alam High Court in September 2022, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is still acquitted of 40 fees in a foreign card fraud situation.
After considering the trial judge’s grounds for judgment and two representations made on Zahid’s behalf, deputy public prosecutor ( DPP ) Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim announced on Thursday morning that the attorney-general had decided to not pursue the appeal.
Zahid faced 33 charges of receiving S$ 13.56 million ( US$ 10.1 million ) in bribes from a company called Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd between 2014 and 2018. According to Malaysian media reports, the money was allegedly used to facilitate the expansion of the commitment to 2025 and the award of a deal for the overseas card program and one-stop services in China.
He also faced seven charges in his capacity as the then-home minister for allegedly obtaining bribes in different currencies – S$ 1.15 million, RM3 million, €15, 000 ( RM67, 032 ) and US$ 15, 000 ( RM67, 548 ) – from Ultra Kirana.
Zahid was Home Affairs Minister from 2013 to 2018 and was also Deputy Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018 under then-Prime Minister Najib Razak.
He is now also president of the United Malays National Organisation, which is piece of current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government.
No evidence, according to DPP Yusaini, was found by the prosecution that Zahid, 71, intended to immediately award the contracts in question.
According to Free Malaysia Today, Yusaini also cited findings made by the prosecution judge, who found that researchers did not look into the cash received or on different individuals who were said to have provided funds from abroad, as well as the findings of the test judge.
The three-judge Court of Appeal upheld the preceding conviction.
Zahid thanked his legal team outside the court and posted” Alhamdulillah”, or” all thanks be to Allah”, on Facebook.