The High Court was told today that the bank account of Umno’s Batu Kawan division has been frozen by the authorities for more than a year.
Under cross-examination by Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Mohd Noor, who was the sixth prosecution witness, said he received RM100,000 from Najib, who was then party president in 2013, to conduct activities to help the needy in the constituency.
Asked by Shafee on the source of funds for each division, Mohd Noor replied that every Umno division would receive RM10,000 from Umno on a monthly basis to conduct activities for the community.
On Sept 20, last year, Najib was charged with 25 counts of corruption involving RM2.28 billion of 1MDB money.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told today that the bank account of Umno’s Batu Kawan division has been frozen by the authorities for more than a year.
The division chief, Mohd Noor Ahmad, testifying during the trial of Datuk Seri Najib Razak involving the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds, said the government has also yet to initiate any criminal or civil forfeiture action against the division.
Under cross-examination by Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Mohd Noor, who was the sixth prosecution witness, said he received RM100,000 from Najib, who was then party president in 2013, to conduct activities to help the needy in the constituency.
“Due to lack of funds for the Batu Kawan division, I went to see Najib, who was then Umno president, on Aug 6, 2013, and told him about the situation.
“He wrote and signed the (RM100,000) cheque and the money was used for community activities,” he said.
Asked by Shafee on the source of funds for each division, Mohd Noor replied that every Umno division would receive RM10,000 from Umno on a monthly basis to conduct activities for the community.
Shafee: If I say that (RM10,000) was insufficient, do you agree?
Mohd Noor: I agree.
Shafee: What were the activities held by the Batu Kawan division?
Mohd Noor: We conducted activities such as helping school students who are less fortunate, activities for mosques, orphanages and single mothers. As such, I felt it was insufficient.
Mohd Noor also agreed with the lawyer that the people in Penang were less fortunate and needed help to improve their livelihood.
Shafee: Although I myself am from Penang, do you agree that the economic state of the Penangites is not very good?
Mohd Noor: Yes, I agree.
Shafee: And they need help to improve their livelihood?
Mohd Noor: True.
Shafee: When the funds were received from Najib, the Penang state government was not under Barisan Nasional?
Mohd Noor: Correct.
Shafee: And the donation received was to help the people in Batu Kawan?
Mohd Noor: True.
The trial continues before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
On Sept 20, last year, Najib was charged with 25 counts of corruption involving RM2.28 billion of 1MDB money.
His first four charges were framed under Sections 23(1) and 24(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009; while the other 21 charges were under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA).
For the charges under the MACC Act, the 66-year-old was accused of using his position as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board at the time, to receive bribes on four occasions.
Meanwhile, the money-laundering charges involved nine counts of receiving illegal proceeds, five counts of using illegal proceeds and seven counts of transferring the proceeds to other entities.
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