KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has given more than half of his RM120,000 monthly earnings in the 1990s to charity, the High Court here heard.
The Umno president, who took the stand on the first day of his defence trial, told the court that he was working in the corporate sector prior to joining politics.
Ahmad Zahid was the chairman of Bank Simpanan Nasional (1994-1998), chief executive officer of Kretam Holdings Bhd (1994-1998), Tekala Corp Bhd (1995-1998), Ramatex Bhd (1995-1999) and Seng Hup Bhd (1996-1998).
He said he was involved in initial public offerings (IPOs) and made profits from share trading then.
“At that time, I was earning some RM120,000 a month and only used between RM30,000 and RM40,000 for myself and my family.
“The rest I used for sedekah, wakaf, infaq and other charitable activities as well as religious purposes,” he said yesterday.
From the RM120,000 monthly, Ahmad Zahid said there was an “excess of earnings” that should be contributed to the benefit of the society, the public and any organisation that deserved the excess.
Ahmad Zahid said the idea to establish Yayasan Akalbudi (YAB) came to him while he was with the corporate sector.
The foundation was first named Yayasan Budi when it was founded in 1997 but later renamed Yayasan Akalbudi to give it a wider meaning encompassing intellectual, research and academic purposes apart from just charity work.
“After the charity work of YAB became known to others since 2013, YAB began to receive contributions from my friends such as Jen Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali (the brother of Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali), businessmen Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, Tan Sri Halim Saad and Tan Sri Ahmad Johan,” sid Ahmad Zahid.
The court heard of his career in the government when he first became a deputy minister in 2004 and held his highest post in government as deputy prime minister between July 29, 2015, and May 9, 2018.
“My income was about RM50,000 a month while serving in the government.
“My savings at this point in time were around RM2mil in a savings account in Bank Islam,” he said.
The Bagan Datuk MP, who was reading from his witness statement, said he had never ordered anyone to use the funds from YAB for his personal use.
Instead, he personally footed the bill for the foundation’s expenses from his salary and savings, he added.
Ahmad Zahid, however, said he could not continue with his charity work as YAB funds were frozen after he was charged in court.
“After I was charged, I was unable to give out aid anymore,” he said to a question from his lawyer Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal.
Ahmad Zahid was first charged in court in relation to YAB on Oct 19, 2018.
He said YAB carried out activities such as the construction and improvement of mosques and surau, building of religious schools (Maahad Tahfiz) and Al-Quran study centres, orphanages and public community halls.
The funds from YAB were not only channelled to charity work in his constituency of Bagan Datuk but also used for charity work overseas such as building a mosque in Yunan, China (RM3.8mil), and renovating a 400-year-old mosque in a Malay village in Cape Town, South Africa (US$1mil or RM4.2mil).
Apart from that, YAB also funded the cost of renovating an old church, bought by a Muslim community in Perth, Australia, into a mosque.
Ahmad Zahid is facing 47 charges – 12 for criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to YAB.
The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Friday.