A Malaysian court charged Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday for corruption, making him the second former prime minister to be indicted — a development he has described as a ruse to crush the opposition ahead of state elections.
(Bloomberg) — A Malaysian court charged Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday for corruption, making him the second former prime minister to be indicted — a development he has described as a ruse to crush the opposition ahead of state elections.
Muhyiddin, 75, stands accused of misappropriating public funds from pandemic-era stimulus programs when he was prime minister from March 2020 to August 2021. Anti-graft investigations found that contractors had allegedly deposited money into his Bersatu party’s bank account in return for projects under the program.
The opposition leader was charged on four counts of abuse of power in court and if convicted he could face up to 20 years in prison. Three companies and an individual had sent 232.5 million ringgit ($51.4 million) to his party’s bank account, according to the charge sheet.
Muhyiddin was also charged with two counts of money laundering amounting to 195 million ringgit. He pleaded not guilty to all six charges and the court set bail at 2 million ringgit.
The allegations against Muhyiddin are an echo of former prime minister Najib Razak’s legal troubles when he was hit with multiple graft charges related to troubled state fund 1MDB when he lost power in 2018. He is currently serving at 12-year jail term.
Muhyiddin said on Thursday the investigations by the anti-corruption agency that led to the charges was meant to humiliate him.
“This selective prosecution against me is a political act with evil intentions carried out by Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional to paralyze and destroy Perikatan Nasional,” Muhyiddin said in reference to the two political alliances aligned with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. “I am innocent and I will answer all charges against me in court.”
The court cases will be a setback for Muhyiddin’s Bersatu and the wider Perikatan Nasional coalition it leads as it prepares to fight Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan alliance in six state elections due later this year. Muhyiddin and Anwar fought a tight election race in November.
Shortly after taking office, Anwar had said “tens of billions of ringgit” in Covid-19 relief during Muhyiddin’s tenure was allocated without due procedure.
(Updates with details.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.