Bangkok, March 9. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was arrested on Thursday for alleged corruption linked to a pandemic relief fund and is due to appear in court tomorrow, official sources reported.
He is the second former president arrested for corruption in Malaysia, where former prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced last August to 12 years in prison over the 1MDB state fund case, one of the biggest corruption cases in the world.
In a statement, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said Muhyiddin was arrested at the commission’s headquarters after testifying to alleged wrongdoing in connection with the Jana Wibawa aid fund.
A group of supporters of the ex-president demonstrated outside the MACC headquarters to express their support for Muhyiddin during his testimony.
The Jana Wibawa fund, endowed with some 600,000 million ringgits (about 132,000 dollars or 125,000 euros), was intended to revive the economy after the covid-19 pandemic.
Muhyiddin, prime minister between March 2020 and August 2021, is accused of violating MACC Article 23, money laundering and illegal financing, among other charges.
On February 21, the former president told the media that he was not responsible for any irregularities related to the Jana Wibawa fund, which has been under investigation for weeks.
Wan Saiful Wan, the information chief of Bersatu, the party led by Muhyuddin, was accused of accepting a bribe of 6.9 million ringgits (about $1.53 million or 1.4 million euros) in connection with this context.
Businessman Adam Radlan was also accused of taking bribes in the case.
This new corruption case erupted as Malaysia pursues the embezzlement of 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), which affected Goldman Sachs and Najib himself, who faces four other trials and dozens of corruption charges. . EFE
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