Former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid denied in court the misappropriation of Yayasan Akalbudi (YAB) funds, and it was his former Executive Secretary Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly negligent in handling the transaction using his credit card.
“I personally don't understand why sometimes I pay more and sometimes less (credit card payments). It means that the secretary is negligent but blaming me now. Where is the justice?” Zahid said.
He answered the questions from his lawyer Ahmad Zahid during the self-defense session, Zahid also defended himself against 47 charges, namely 12 charges of breach of trust, 8 charges of corruption and 27 charges of money laundering involving millions of dollars.
Zahid says he has no idea that Mazlina misuse his signature stamp
Meanwhile, Zahid said the overpayment on the credit card was due to Mazlina's own negligence in handling the credit card transaction.
Mazlina had testified in court that she didn't know, wasn't sure and didn't remember the management of credit card bills involved.
Zahid also said that Mazlina was never allowed to use his signature stamp or pre-signed cheques to pay for her personal credit card and vehicle insurance policies.
“As a trained and experienced banker, if I knew Mazlina would do this, I would not have given permission and would have stopped her actions immediately.”
“Mazlina also never showed me any of the monthly statements and cheques she issued. I will not authorize the payment if the monthly statements and cheques are handed to me or presented to me,” he said.
In the end, Zahid claimed that he was completely unaware that Mazlina had misused his signature stamp to make credit card payments with YAB cheques.
