Malaysia’s anti-graft agency probes former PM Muhyiddin over $92m in ‘political funds’

Malaysia’s former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to be called up by the country’s anti-graft agency over RM300 million (S$92 million) that his party allegedly received in “political funds”.

The funds were allegedly from contractors who had been awarded government contracts under his administration, the New Straits Times (NST) reported on Tuesday.

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president will be summoned “in the near future”, NST said, citing a source from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Two bank accounts belonging to Bersatu, with a total balance of RM40 million,

were believed to have been frozen by MACC in January.

Several Bersatu leaders, including the party’s treasurer, were also summoned to have their statements recorded, the NST report said.

The contractors were identified following a probe into Bersatu’s accounts.

MACC chief Azam Baki had said on Feb 2 that the investigation was unrelated to a probe into the alleged misappropriation of a Covid-19 stimulus package worth RM92.5 billion by Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s government during the pandemic. 

An anti-graft official told The Straits Times then that it was necessary to freeze the accounts to see if there were any irregularities.

Mr Muhyiddin was Malaysia’s eighth prime minister from March 2020 to August 2021, before he was replaced by Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob, whose party is now a member of the unity government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Last December, MACC said it would look into an alleged misappropriation of RM600 billion of funds by the administration led by Mr Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional coalition. This is reportedly unrelated to the contracts awarded.

It said the focus remains on the RM92.5 billion spent as stimulus during the Covid-19 pandemic, as these initiatives were fast-tracked because of pressing needs during the nationwide lockdown.