Malaysia: Ex-PM Muhyiddin Yassin arrested, faces graft charges

Muhyiddin Yassin waves to his supporters as he arrives at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters. Pic/AFP

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been arrested and will be brought to court to face corruption charges, the anti-graft agency said Thursday.
Muhyiddin, who led Malaysia from March 2020 until August 2021, will be the country's second leader to be indicted after leaving office.

Ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak was hit with multiple graft charges after he lost in 2018 general elections, and began a 12-year jail term in August after losing his final appeal in the first of several trials.

The anti-graft agency said Muhyiddin will face several charges Friday related to alleged abuse and money laundering linked to government projects awarded under his rule.

Muhyiddin, 75, went to the anti-graft agency earlier Thursday to answer questions for the second time in three weeks.

He was first questioned in February over the award of projects, including Covid-19 economic aid programs.

Also Read: Indian-origin professor sues US college for racial discrimination

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who took power after November's general elections, had ordered a review of government projects approved by past administrations for allegedly not following the rules.

Two senior leaders from Muhyiddin's Bersatu party were also recently charged with graft.

The anti-graft agency froze Bersatu's bank accounts for investigations into alleged illegal proceedings.

Muhyiddin, who leads a strong Islamic-dominated opposition, has denied any wrongdoing and accused Anwar's government of trying to crush the opposition ahead of state elections.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever