KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the Board of Trustees (BOT) in Yayasan Akalbudi were mere "puppets" as it was Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who had complete control of the charity foundation, the High Court heard.

       Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran said the appointment of the so-called trustees were only to make up the numbers in the foundation and they did not make any contribution to it.

       "YAB was basically his (Ahmad Zahid) because he is the major funder or main contributor in that foundation," she said, adding that Ahmad Zahid had a ‘free hand’ in the running of the board’s affairs.

       Ahmad Zahid’s reign, according to DPP Raja Rozela, had taken place long before the trustees’ circular resolution that made him the authorised signatory on YAB’s cheques.

       The court had heard earlier that a resolution was passed on April 4, 2012, and signed by two new trustees Muhammad Nabil Salleh and Datuk Khairuddin Tarmizi who replaced Samsuri Tun and Prof Dr Zulkifli Senteri and it had made Ahmad Zahid the sole signatory for the foundation’s cheques.

       "The accused was in control of the board and when a person controls the board members, he therefore gets to control the entire YAB," she added.

       Being the only controlling mind behind YAB and the sole signatory, Ahmad Zahid was able to make use of the funds according to his whims and fancies, DPP Raja Rozela said.

       "He had the ability to dictate the inflow and outflow of the foundation’s funds, and it is the prosecution’s contention that he had in fact exercised that dominion when he dishonestly misappropriated YAB funds for his personal gain,” the prosecutor added.

       Ahmad Zahid is facing 47 charges - 12 for criminal breach of trust (CBT), eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering - involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to YAB.

       The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Wednesday (Oct 13).