SHAH ALAM: Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been freed of all 40 charges of receiving bribes from a company to extend its foreign visa system (VLN) contract.
High Court judge Datuk Yazid Mustafa ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the former deputy prime minister.
He said witnesses who testified against Zahid were not credible or trustworthy and their testimony could not be relied on.
The judge said even though there were suggestions that Zahid had received money there was no sufficient evidence to prove it.
Touching on the delivery of the cash to Zahid's house, he said the prosecution did not produce any close circuit television (CCTV) footage to show this happened.
On the infamous ledger which contained entries of those who allegedly received kickbacks from the company awarded the VLN contract, Yazid said the ledger was unreliable and no weightage should be given to it.
Immediately after he finished reading his two hour judgment, those present in court started clapping.In this case, a total of 18 witnesses were called by the prosecution to testify in the trial which began on May 24, 2021.
The prosecution team was led by Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran, Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Abdul Malik Ayob and Zander Lim Wai Keong.
Zahid, who is Bagan Datuk Member of Parliament (MP), was slapped with 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) to extend the firm's contract as the operator of a one-stop centre in China and the VLN system as well as to maintain a contract for the supply of the VLN integrated system.
The former Home Minister was also accused of another seven counts of obtaining for himself S$1.15 million, RM3 million, 15,000 Swiss francs and US$15,000 from the same company in connection with his official duties.
He was charged with committing all the offences at Seri Satria in Precinct 16, Putrajaya, and at Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.