KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was charged on Friday with abusing his power to obtain bribes and money laundering linked to the alleged misuse of a Covid economic recovery fund.

Muhyiddin was prime minister for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, at the height of Malaysia’s battle against the coronavirus, and now leads an opposition coalition against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government.

He is the second former prime minister to be charged with corruption after ex-leader Najib Razak, who is currently serving a 12-year jail term for his role in a financial scandal at state investment fund 1MDB.

Muhyiddin, 75, was hit with four charges of abusing his position to obtain bribes totalling $51.4 million for his political party Bersatu.

The bribes allegedly came from companies that were given preference for projects financed by the Covid fund.

Each charge carries up to 20 years’ imprisonment on conviction.

Muhyiddin was also slapped with two charges of money laundering involving 195m ringgit deposited into Bersatu’s account, according to the charge sheets. Each of those charges could lead to up to 15 years in jail.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2023