KUALA LUMPUR (May 23): Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the High Court here on Monday (May 23) that "not a single sen" in his charity arm Akalbudi Foundation came from the Malaysian government or taxpayers because he had used his own money to establish the foundation, which is also known as Yayasan Akalbudi.

"Not a single sen [of the foundation's funds] came from the government, taxpayers or the rakyat (people),” Zahid testified before High Court Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Zahid was testifying in his own defence against 47 charges involving criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering in relation to Akalbudi.

The 47 charges comprise 27 for money laundering, eight for corruption and 12 for CBT.

Zahid is alleged to have committed the offences here between 2014 and 2018.

He was reading from a witness statement he gave to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in October 2018 while he was under the MACC's investigation then.

On Monday, he reiterated what he said in earlier court hearings.

He said he had balance disposable income from his salaries by virtue of his roles, which included being a businessman besides his involvement in several public-listed companies and government-related entities.

Citing an example, he said he was the chairman of Malaysian government-owned Bank Simpanan Nasional before he took up ministerial roles.

Zahid said that because of the salaries and allowances he received from these roles, he and his family had excess funds.

According to the former home minister, he also undertook public-listed share trades, among others, and channelled the dividends from such investments into Akalbudi.

“There were also several contributions from my friends and business figures who were unrelated to my ministerial portfolios because I didn’t hold any positions in government before that,” he said.

He said he could not remember the exact sum of money he had personally given to Akalbudi and that the amount ranged within millions of ringgit, which stemmed from his corporate activities.

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Zahid: I started charitable foundation because I had disposable income from my RM120,000 salary in 1997