PUTRAJAYA - This situation is being used as a 'political capital ' as if this is a scheme to steal the nation's money, Perikatan Nasional (PN) Chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after being detained and interrogated for nine hours by the the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Muhyiddin said he had willingly presented himself at the MACC office on Thursday morning to allow them to record his statement even though he felt that this was political oppression and persecution against him and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
"MACC raised two issues, namely the Jana Wibawa project and the tax cancellation appeal of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari from Yayasan Al Bukhary.
"For Jana Wibawa, it is a project during the Covid-19 pandemic to rebuild the country's economy, especially to save bumiputera contractors who were about to go bankrupt.
"That is why the amount being questioned fluctuated from RM600 billion to RM530 billion and then dropped sharply to RM92.5 billion, down again to RM4.5 billion and finally to RM300 million," he told reporters after testifying at the MACC Headquarters here on Thursday.
The Pagoh MP said that because of the accusation, MACC had frozen the party’s bank account to destroy Bersatu.
" This is slanderous and evil" he said
Muhyiddin explained that MACC should know from all the evidence taken that there was no abuse of power or bribery.
He added that it was very unfortunate for the money in the Bersatu account to be considered as bribery when it is merely political funds.
"I have insisted that I have not done anything wrong by the law
"I am not the party that has the authority to approve any government projects. The authority to approve is under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry," he said.
Muhyiddin further explained that he was simply implementing the cabinet decision which required the Prime Minister's Office to extend the project application for consideration by the Finance Ministry, which follows the conditions and regulations that are already in place.
"I have never given instructions or influenced the decisions made by the Finance Ministry.
"I have also never met the contractors who got the project and have never received money from them. MACC has not found any evidence that I have received money," he said.
Muhyiddin questioned on how he canbe accused of accepting bribes and abusing power when he already followed all the rules and regulations set.
"Regarding the tax cancellation appeal from Yayasan Al Bukhary, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar is a good friend of mine whom I have known for over 30 years. He is a famous Malay tycoon and philanthropist who is familiar with me.
"This is the fact, the Al Bukhary Foundation carries out charity and welfare work, especially developing Islam and helping Muslims. For all that, this foundation was granted tax exemption approval by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government," he said.
Muhyiddin added that after the 14th General Election (GE14), the Pakatan Harapan coalition government was formed.
" The Finance Minister at the time from DAP, Lim Guan Eng cancelled the exemption that has already been approved for the Al Bukhary Foundation," he said.