Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he had been asked to appear at the country’s anti-graft authority on Thursday, amid an investigation into some Covid-era projects announced under his leadership.
(Bloomberg) — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he had been asked to appear at the country’s anti-graft authority on Thursday, amid an investigation into some Covid-era projects announced under his leadership.
“I was asked to go to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters at 11 a.m.,” Muhyiddin said in a Facebook post, without providing details. He also denied a news report that he had been arrested by the MACC while playing golf on Wednesday.
The MACC in February had frozen the bank accounts of Muhyiddin’s Bersatu party amid a probe into the alleged misappropriation of public funds for tackling the pandemic during his premiership. Muhyiddin was prime minister 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.
“It is political persecution,” Bersatu Secretary-General Hamzah Zainudin told reporters gathered outside the MACC headquarters. “It has nothing to do with wrongdoings by our president. There is nothing wrong with Bersatu receiving any political funding. Other parties also receive political funding.”
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 investigation into Bersatu is being carried out under the MACC Act and the Anti-money Laundering, Anti-terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act, MACC Chief Azam Baki told local media last month.
(Updates with Bersatu official’s comments in fifth paragraph.)
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