Mahathir denies receiving political donations from firm

PETALING JAYA • Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has denied the allegation that emerged in a court trial of receiving political donations from Ultra Kirana (UKSB) for use by his former political party.

"I didn't receive (the money). If he can show proof, I accept it, this is easy to say.

"If someone gives me money, show me who gave it, I never received the money," he said at a press conference after a public event on Monday.

On the other hand, he said the party claiming to have sent the funds should come forward with evidence and not just talk nonsense.

In the Monday corruption trial of former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former UKSB administration manager David Tan Siong Sun claimed that Tun Dr Mahathir, after the 2018 general election, received a donation for his then party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, through his nephew, Tan Sri Rahmat Abu Bakar. Dr Mahathir was then chairman of Bersatu.

Sinar Harian daily quoted Dr Mahathir as saying he was ready to be investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding the issue.

"I'm ready, show me the proof I have (the money). Many accusations have been made against me that I'm rich with billions of ringgit saved in Switzerland and Taiwan," he added.

Mr Tan, while under questioning in court, said the code name "Kedahan" was used for Mr Rahmat in UKSB's ledger of the company's monetary outflow.

He had also said similar payments were made to "ministers, politicians and government servants" and that he had kept a ledger of payments made between 2014 and 2018 in spreadsheet files on his laptop.

He had previously named several politicians, including former premier, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as among those who had received money directly or through proxies. They have all denied receiving any money from UKSB.

Ahmad Zahid faces 33 charges of accepting bribes amounting to $13.56 million from UKSB for himself as then Home Minister to extend the company's contract as a one-stop service centre in China and as a key company linked to the issuing of foreign worker visas.

On a further seven charges, Ahmad Zahid is charged with obtaining for himself $1.15 million, RM3 million (S$932,230), 15,000 Swiss francs (S$21,550) and US$15,000 (S$20,800) from UKSB that had official links to his official duty as home minister then.

Ahmad Zahid is accused of committing the offences between October 2014 and March 2018.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK