Malaysia’s embattled former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin will stand trial on corruption charges starting March next year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court announced on Monday.
Muhyiddin, 78, will be the second Malaysian premier to be tried for corruption after Najib Razak, who went on to be sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment and fined MYR210 million in 2020 ($50.76 million at today’s rates) for embezzling funds from the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The corruption trial will start on March 9, 2026, and run for a total of 29 days until August 27, the High Court said, according to a report by national news agency Bernama.
Around 30 prosecution witnesses are expected to be summoned to testify in court, according to deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
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Slew of corruption charges
Muhyiddin is facing four counts of abuse of power for allegedly soliciting MYR232.5 million ($56.19 million) in bribes from three private companies – Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, and Mamfor Sdn Bhd – and an individual named Azman Yusoff at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya between March 2020 and August 2021.
The case is connected to the Jana Wibawa programme, a government initiative introduced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for the development of Bumiputera (indigenous Malaysians) contractors.
The president of the opposition Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia is also charged with three counts of money laundering for allegedly receiving MYR200 million in proceeds from illegal activities.
The money in question was allegedly deposited by Bukhary Equity into Bersatu’s AmBank and CIMB Bank accounts in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur between February 2021 and July 2022.
If convicted, Muhyiddin faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine five times higher than the money laundered, in accordance with Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
In August, the member of parliament from Johor’s Pagoh town lodged a bid to have his abuse of power charges dropped, but it was rejected by the Attorney-General’s Chambers two months later.
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