Mas Ermieyati Samsudin has dismissed claims made by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that she had defected from Umno after the 14th general election to save herself from Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigations into alleged abuse of election funds.
“Zahid’s allegations are not true. The funds were distributed nationwide as required by the party,” the former Puteri Umno leader said in a statement last night.
The Masjid Tanah MP said she would have to study Zahid’s accusation in detail before deciding on her next move.
“His accusation was in the form of a sworn statement from the witness stand in court, so I need more details before deciding whether to take further action,” said the deputy de facto law minister from Bersatu.
On Tuesday, Zahid told the High Court that three MPs from Umno had quit the party and joined Bersatu after GE14 to save themselves from being investigated by MACC.
Zahid also claimed Jeli MP Mustapa Mohamed – also a minister in the current cabinet – had misappropriated provisions channelled to Kelantan Umno.
However, the Jeli MP denied the claims in a statement yesterday.
“All party funds are managed according to party guidelines, including funds for elections. They were managed by the committee concerned at the liaison body level,” he said.
Mustapa reiterated he had never been pressured to join Bersatu nor did he misappropriate any funds belonging to Kelantan Umno.
“I’m ready to cooperate with the authorities,” he added.
Mustapa revealed that his statements were recorded twice by the MACC, but neither was related to the alleged misappropriation of party funds.
He said the first incident involved the cabinet meeting for the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline project, while the second involved 1MDB funds received by Kelantan Umno.
“Zahid’s allegations have been raised by others before. The MACC had refuted it on Sept 20, 2018, while the Kelantan Umno secretary had produced an explanation on the management of party funds on Jan 16, 2019,” he said.