Witness: After MACC froze Yayasan Akalbudi's funds, Zahid said will find money to continue Perak mosque construction

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 – Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said he would look for money to fund the building of the floating mosque Masjid Tuminah Hamidi in Bagan Datuk, Perak and asked the contractor to continue working despite funder Yayasan Akalbudi's funds being frozen, the High Court heard today.

Ramli Ghani, the project manager working in contractor Noble Energy Construction Sdn Bhd, said this while testifying as the ninth defence witness in Deputy Prime Minister Zahid's trial, where the politician is accused of having misappropriated his charitable organisation Yayasan Akalbudi's funds.

Ramli yesterday said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) investigation in 2018 on Yayasan Akalbudi and freezing of the foundation's account had resulted in three months' worth of payments for the mosque's construction works not being obtained.

Having said that the MACC's probe on Yayasan Akalbudi caused construction works for the mosque to temporarily stop, Ramli today said this was due to concern over whether there would be continued funding for the project.

“As far as I recall, the investigation started in July 2018. Actually at that time, we were forced to stop at that stage, because our confidence to continue on the project reduced slightly initially,” Ramli told deputy public prosecutor Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, adding that work stopped until the end of 2018.

Ramli said work on building the mosque had started since 2017 with a groundbreaking ceremony in July 2017, and that work halted in 2018 when flooring works were being carried out.

Today, Ramli said that the agreement for the building of Masjid Tuminah Hamidi was only signed between the developer Yayasan Al-Falah (which is Zahid's family's foundation), Noble Energy and Yayasan Restu (for interior decoration works), confirming that the project's funder Yayasan Akalbudi was not part of the agreement.

Asked by Dusuki why he had said that the mosque project could not continue when Yayasan Akalbudi's funds were frozen even though it was not part of the contract, Ramli said this was because Yayasan Akalbudi was the one giving the funding for the project and agreed that there was still a need to rely on the foundation.

Ramli said he did not know the source of Yayasan Akalbudi's funds for the mosque project.

Asked by Dusuki why the mosque construction works only resumed in early 2019 after getting "clearance" from Yayasan Al-Falah when it was halted due to Yayasan Akalbudi's funds being frozen, Ramli said this was because Yayasan Al-Falah plays a main role by being the developer and also part of the contract, saying that clearance had to be obtained from Yayasan Al-Falah as a "formality".

When asked if clearance was given when funds were available for the mosque project, Ramli said it did not mean that money was available but said there was guarantee that there would be payment for works done.

Dusuki: From where is the guarantee?

Ramli: Actually the source of discussion is also Datuk Seri Zahid, he said to continue work, he will find funds.

Ramli said that other sources of money would be looked for to continue the project as Yayasan Akalbudi's funds had been frozen, adding that he knew this as the matter was discussed at the project site.

But when Dusuki suggested that Yayasan Al-Falah is the one playing the main role and determining the direction of the mosque project instead of Yayasan Akalbudi, Ramli disagreed and said that it was still Yayasan Akalbudi playing the main role together with Yayasan Al-Falah.

Ramli agreed that this was the case even though Yayasan Akalbudi's funds was frozen, saying: “Yes, the owner of this project is Yayasan Akalbudi.”

When Dusuki suggested that Yayasan Akalbudi was no longer funding the mosque project since the foundation's account was frozen in 2018 until the mosque's completion in April 2023, Ramli disagreed.

As Dusuki continued to suggest that the source of funding for the project was no longer Yayasan Akalbudi as the mosque construction only continued after Yayasan Al-Falah's clearance, Ramli again disagreed, but added that he does not know the source of funding.

Zahid, who is also Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, is facing 47 charges in this trial. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

During his testimony, Ramli linked Zahid directly with Yayasan Akalbudi, saying that he did not know the details about the donation of funds from Yayasan Akalbudi but stressed on the project's connections to Yayasan Akalbudi.

“In detail, I do not know... but each time we discuss with the presence of Datuk Seri Zahid, so I consider he is from Yayasan Akalbudi and I am made to understand that the land for this project was also purchased by Yayasan Akalbudi to be developed with the mosque project,” Ramli told Dusuki, confirming that he did not see the donations in writing, but saw the “owner” Yayasan Akalbudi being active in the project with all decisions made by Zahid.

Ramli said that Zahid had been involved in meetings during his regular site visits, with the contractor getting Zahid's approval in those meetings for matters linked to the mosque such as colour choices and carpet designs.

Ramli disagreed that it was “odd” that Yayasan Akalbudi was not named in the contract when it was the funder, saying that this was because it was generally known that Zahid owns Yayasan Akalbudi and that his family owned Yayasan Al-Falah and that Zahid was the one making all the decisions throughout Ramli's years of involvement in the project.

As for the contract agreement prepared by law firm Lewis & Co between Yayasan Al-Falah, Noble Energy and Yayasan Restu, Ramli said he did not know why the agreement only had these three companies and that he does not know of the contract's terms or why it did not include Yayasan Akalbudi, and that he has never seen the contract but was only told about it in a meeting.

When Dusuki suggested that it is “noble” to build a mosque and that there is no need to “hide” Yayasan Akalbudi and that it was better to include Yayasan Akalbudi in the contract, Ramli disagreed.

When asked by Zahid's lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh to explain why he disagreed, Ramli — who has over 20 years of experience working as a project manager and with Masjid Tuminah Hamidi being the 11th project he was managing — said the owner and funder of a project could be a separate entity from the developer, while the contract would be made between the developer and the contractor.

Ramli agreed with Hamidi's suggestion that the financier of a project does not have to be included in a development agreement.

Later, Kamarulzaman Sampol who is a village head in Sungai Keli in Bagan Datuk, Perak testified as the 11th defence witness, where he spoke of Zahid's charitable contributions in the area such as an alleged RM100,000 sum for the repair and upgrading works for Kamarulzaman's alma mater Sekolah Agama Rakyat Sungai Keli.

Kamarulzaman said the school which he had attended for primary education had been in a poor condition and had not been repaired until the works were funded by Zahid, adding that he had gone along with Zahid and others to distribute aid from house to house during the Deepavali and Chinese New Year festivities.

Kamarulzaman said Zahid would contribute one cow for each Hari Raya Haji for the mosque at Sungai Keli, and that the latter would also contribute food packs with essential food for Sungai Keli residents every fasting month or Ramadan.

Zahid's trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Seqeurah resumes this afternoon.

Zahid, who is also Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, is facing 47 charges in this trial.

The 47 charges are namely, 12 counts of criminal breach of trust in relation to over RM31 million of Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges of over RM21.25 million in alleged bribes.