KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today argued that he had more than enough money to pay for his credit card expenses and there was no need for him to use his charity foundation, Yayasan Akalbudi's (YAB) funds to settle the bills.
The former deputy prime minister produced his bank statements to back his claims, repeatedly telling High Court Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah his bank balance clearly showed there were excess funds to settle whatever amount that was needed to pay for his credit cards usage.
The 69-year-old Umno president spent almost an hour reading out his bank balance compared to how much his credit card bills were at various dates from 2014 to 2016 to back his argument.
He pointed out that the bank balance in his personal Maybank account was between over RM100,000 to RM600,000 from 2014 to 2016 while his credit card bills ranged from between RM600 to RM215,000.
"Yang Arif, I could easily afford to pay the bills every month.
"The balance in my bank account was more than enough to pay for the credit card expenses," he said as his lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh took him through the bank statements and his credit card bills during that period.
Asked why his former secretary Mazlina Mazlan had then used YAB cheques to settle his credit card bills, Zahid said it was clear that she had been negligent to do so.
"She was negligent and has given all kinds of excuses for doing so," he said when testifying in his own defence against 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering involving YAB funds.
The prosecution's case against Zahid is that he had misappropriated more than RM13.1 million of his family-run charity foundation for his own credit card payments, motor insurance policies and road tax payments, and other purposes.
It was alleged that Zahid, who is represented by Hamidi and Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, misappropriated the monies for his own personal use and not for the foundation.
However, Zahid has all this while maintained that he should be absolved of all blame for misusing YAB's money to pay for his personal expenses.
His defence is that Mazlina had been the main culprit behind the mess he was entangled in now due to her hopelessly incompetent performance as his secretary.
He claimed Mazlina, who used to manage YAB's financial affairs, often made countless errors by making overpayments and underpayments from the foundation's accounts.
However, Mazlina previously testified that Zahid was well aware that payments for his credit cards were made using YAB's cheques.
She testified that her former boss had actually given her permission to use the charity foundation's cheques to make the payment, and that he had signed the cheques in front of her.
The trial continues.