Malaysian tycoon faces criminal charges against Muhyiddin

The political and legal troubles that have been rocking former premier Muhyiddin Yassin and his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Bersatu are slowly spreading to the boardrooms of corporate Malaysia.

A private entity controlled by the tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, who is one of the richest businessmen in more than a dozen listed entities, has been identified as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission MACC in the charges filed against Muhyiddin.

Two of the seven charges the government has brought against Muhyiddin in recent days involve abuse of power, and Mr Syed Mokhtar s Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd is accused of paying RM 205 million US $47.7 million to Bersatu's coffers under the former premier's instructions. Muhyiddin has claimed trial and is now on bail.

CNA reached out to the MACC for comments on whether criminal charges would be brought against the businessman.

The Home Ministry is carrying out a review of a RM 1.09 billion immigration system contract awarded during Muhyiddin's presidency to publicly list smart technology firm Iris Corp Bhd, another business entity with close ties to Bersatu leaders.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said over the weekend that his ministry will submit a review of the project to the Cabinet next month before a decision is made on whether to scrap the project that was awarded in March 2021.

A crackdown that began with the freezing of Bersatu's bank accounts last month is about to extend to other large contracts and projects that Muhyiddin awarded during the 17 months he served as prime minister beginning in March 2020.

Finance Ministry officials, headed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, told CNA that other projects under scrutiny include the ongoing roll out of the multi-billion ringgit super-fast fifth-generation wireless network, or 5 G, and the appointment of four private companies, without public tender, to operate as exclusive cloud-service providers.