Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been arrested and will be charged in court Friday for offenses related to corruption and money-laundering, according to the nation’s anti-graft authority.
(Bloomberg) — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been arrested and will be charged in court Friday for offenses related to corruption and money-laundering, according to the nation’s anti-graft authority.
Muhyiddin will face charges under provisions of Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act, the authority said in a statement.
Muhyiddin was summoned by the MACC on Thursday amid its probe into the alleged misappropriation of public funds in some Covid-era stimulus programs announced under his leadership. Muhyiddin was premier from March 2020 to August 2021, and now leads the opposition. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The investigation involves some 300 million ringgit ($66.3 million) found in Bersatu party accounts, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said last month. The probe is a setback for the party and the wider Perikatan Nasional coalition it leads as it prepares to fight Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan alliance in six state elections due later this year.
“This selective prosecution against me is a political act with evil intentions carried out by Pakatan Harapan and Barsan Nasional to paralyze and destroy Perikatan Nasional,” Muhyiddin said in a statement late Thursday.
He said he would face seven charges in court, a move meant to humiliate him, he added. “I affirm that I am innocent and that I will answer all charges against me in court.”
Shortly after taking office, Anwar had said “tens of billions of ringgit” in Covid-19 relief during Muhyiddin’s tenure was allocated without due procedure. Muhyiddin and Anwar fought a tight election race in November that resulted in a hung parliament.
The MACC in February had frozen the bank accounts of Bersatu party to facilitate its investigation.
(Updates with comments from Muhyiddin in fifth, sixth paragraphs.)
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