Zahid Slapped With 45 Charges, May Face 405 Years in Jail for Just Money Laundering

Yesterday (18 October 2018), Umno’s president Zahid Hamidi was arrested after facing several investigations by the authorities from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Source: the star

FYI, he was investigated for allegedly misappropriating funds belonging to Yayasan Akal Budi. Zahid, who is also the chairman of Yayasan Akal Budi, supposedly used RM800,000 from the foundation to settle his credit card bills.

Moving on, today (19 October 2018), The Star reported that he has been slapped with 45 charges under two acts which are:

• Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act (2009)
• Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (2001)

Source: fmt

The charges which the former deputy prime minister will be facing are as follows:

• 27 counts under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act involving RM72,063,618.15
• 10 counts for committing a breach of trust under Section 409 of the Penal Code involving RM20,833,132.99
• 8 counts under Section 16 (a)(b) of MACC Act 2009 for accepting bribes worth of RM21,250,000

Source: the malay mail

Therefore, if Zahid is convicted of those crimes, he may face the following punishments:

• Money laundering: Not less than 15 years in jail and a fine five times the sum of the proceeds from an unlawful activity or RM5 million, whichever is higher.
• Criminal breach of trust: Imprisonment for no less than two years and not more than 20 years with whipping and a fine.
• Receiving a bribe: Jail sentence for not more than 20 years and a fine not less than five times the sum of bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Note: The punishments mentioned above are only accounted to one count of each charge.

That said, Zahid may be facing approximately 405 years of imprisonment if he is guilty of the money laundering charges alone. 

Source: the star

As of now, the Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi has set Zahid’s bail at RM2 million, which can be paid in two installments. The court has ordered RM1 million of the bail to be settled by today (Friday, 19 October 2018); meanwhile, the balance must be paid before or on 26 October 2018.

Finally, it was revealed that the “mention date” for Zahid’s case is set on 14 December 2018. It looks like we’ve got to wait until 14th December to know more about Zahid’s case. 

Also read: BREAKING: MACC Has Just Arrested Umno President Zahid Hamidi