KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court heard that Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi issued eight cheques for RM65,321.83 to pay for his credit cards and American Express (Amex) charge card between February 2014 and July 2015.
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This was revealed by vice-president of Malayan Bank Bhd (Maybank) in charge of credit card fraud and dispute management department, Anoop Singh Gulzara Singh, 46.
He said the payments amounting to RM65,321.83 were paid to Maybank Card Centre between Feb 19, 2014 and July 9, 2015.
“Six payments were made between Feb 19 and Oct 29, 2014 for Mastercard Gold and Visa Platinum.
“One payment was made on March 20, 2015 for Visa Platinum and one payment was made on July 9, 2015 for Amex Platinum,” said the ninth prosecution witness.
He said this when reading his witness statement during the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt on the fourth day of the trial of Ahmad Zahid, who faces 47 charges involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds totalling millions of ringgit.
Anoop also testified that apart from Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad Zahid had also used the cards in Kiev, Ukraine, and Seoul, South Korea.
“Referring to the credit card statement dated June 24, 2014, the Visa card was used in one retail transaction here for the amount of RM5,900.
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“The statement dated July 24 in the same year shows a few retail transactions made in Kiev, Ukraine, with the total amount transacted of RM7,604.90.
“Referring to the statement dated May 26 and June 26, 2015, the Amex card was charged to three retail and a supermarket transaction in Seoul for RM32,446.46,” Anoop said.
The witness also said that the Mastercard account was closed on April 16, 2014 while the other two cards were still active.
“The Visa and Mastercard have a combined credit limit of RM70,000.”
Ahmad Zahid, 66, had pleaded not guilty to a total of 47 charges, 12 of which are for criminal breach of trust, eight for bribery and 27 for money laundering involving millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
The trial before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Dec 2. — Bernama