‘Not a coincidence’: Contractors’ RM25.3m to Bersatu came after Muhyiddin’s aid to get projects, was not ‘political donation’, court told

The RM25.3 million given by three Bumiputera contractors and their representatives to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) in 2021 and 2022 is not a "political donation," according to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Mazery Mohd Zaini. The MACC senior assistant commissioner testified that this money was, instead, a "balasan" (reward) for the contractors' actions that helped them secure government projects.

The investigation revealed that the payments were not coincidental, as all three companies received government contracts through the Jana Wibawa programme after receiving aid from Muhyiddin Yassin, the former prime minister and PPBM president. Mazery pointed out that the transactions were made possible due to Muhyiddin being an authorized signatory for PPBM's CIMB and AmBank bank accounts, and that there were no donation receipts issued by PPBM for the RM25.3 million received from KCJ Engineering, Azman Yusoff, Nepturis, and Mamfor.