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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has been accused of bribery and bribery.
FILE PHOTO: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of Malaysia speaks during a high-level meeting on broad movements of refugees and migrants at the United Nations General Assembly in Manhattan, New York, US September 19, 2016. REUTERS / Carlo Allegri / File Photo
Ahmad Zahid leads the opposition as president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the once-powerful party that ruled Malaysia for 60 years before being defeated in May.
He is the latest form of high-ranking official to be admitted for suspected graft, as the authorities ramp up investigations into how billions of dollars allegedly go missing from state coffers.
Ahmad Zahid was brought to a Kuala Lumpur court charged with 10 counts of criminal breach of trust and eight counts of abusing sums totaling 42 million ringgit ($ 10 million), the Bernama news agency reported.
He was also involved with 27 counts of laundering about 72 million ringgit ($ 17.3 million).
Each load carries lengthy jail terms of up to 20 years, with fines of up to five times the value of the illegal transactions, for the money laundering and abuse of power offenses.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges, Bernama said.
Ahmad Zahid, also a former home minister, has been cited as the author of the report.
In one case, $ 6 million ($ 1.4 million) has been awarded to a 12.5 million electronic chips for Malaysian passports.
He was also accused of misusing funds from his family-run charity foundation, Bernama said.
Ahmad Zahid had earlier denied allegations of using the foundation to settle debts for himself and his wife, saying the payments had been made in error by an aid.
The charges against Ahmad Zahid are not related to a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that led to the formation ruling coalition's shock election defeat in May.
U.S. authorities say more than $ 4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB, and nearly $ 700 million from the fund was divested into the former bank accounts of former prime minister Najib Razak.
Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, multiple face money laundering and corruption charges linked to 1MDB. They have pleaded not guilty, with Najib's trial slated to begin next year.
Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Robert Birsel
