The RM1 million withdrawn from a Bersatu account was used to deliver aid to parliamentary constituencies under the party, said Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Armada decided it would withdraw funds to be used to give basic items for the Bersatu parliamentary constituencies.
“All the expenditures have been recorded,” said the former Youth and Sports Minister on Facebook live last night.
He denied that he had withdrawn the money unilaterally and that it was only done after it was agreed upon by the Bersatu youth committee.
“Moreover, I didn’t even sign the cheque. The signees were the treasurer and secretary,” said Syed Saddiq, who was sacked by Bersatu for refusing to support Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin after the Sheraton coup last year.
“I did not use the money for personal use. The breakdown for the RM1 million expenditure is there.”
Syed Saddiq, who was one of the founders of Bersatu, said that the allegations against him were unfair.
“In all the time I was in Bersatu, the president (Muhyiddin) has never raised Bersatu’s financial issues at the supreme council meetings.
“Although, millions were raised for the by-elections, such as Tg Piai, the matter was never discussed at the party meetings. So, where is the fairness?
“In this respect, I want to thank former Bersatu chairman for agreeing to be a witness for me,” said the 29-year-old politician, referring to Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Syed Saddiq was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with two counts of misappropriating his former party funds to the sum of RM1.12 million today.
In the first charge, the Muar MP is accused of misappropriating RM1 million via a CIMB cheque, at CIMB Bank, KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, on March 6 last year.
He is charged under Section 405 of the penal code for criminal breach of trust and faces up to 10 years in jail, caning and a fine if found guilty for the first charge.
In the second charge, he is accused of withdrawing RM120,000 from Maybank Islamic Bhd in Taman Pandan Jaya, Kuala Lumpur in April 2018.
The Muda president has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Syed Saddiq said Bersatu was deregistered when he was alleged to have organised a fundraiser for Bersatu youth.
He said that the RM120,000 raised during the fundraising events on April 8 and 9, 2018 were for his 2018 general election campaign in Muar and were not meant for Bersatu.
“The RM120,000 raised was used in my GE14 campaign for Muar although the actual expenditure was around RM171,000,” he said.
He said the charge that he had taken the funds that were meant for Bersatu did not make sense as the party was declared illegal on April 3, 2018.
“How can it be for the party when Bersatu was declared illegal on April 3 and had its bank accounts suspended.
“Moreover, if you look at all the invitations for the fundraisers, there were no mentions of Armada or Bersatu. All it says is ‘Fund-raising for Johor’”, said Syed Saddiq.
Further, he said that he had invited Muhyiddin Yassin to attend the fundraisers in his own capacity and not as Armada chief.
“Now Senior Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali and his family even attended and donated,” said Syed Saddiq.
Earlier report: July 22, Syed Saddiq: Don’t be intimidated by PN