Bersatu has failed in its attempt to lift the freeze on its two bank accounts after the High Court ruled that the party did not prove the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had acted unlawfully or abused its powers.
High Court judge Justice Aliza Sulaiman held that Bersatu had not demonstrated that MACC’s actions were illegal, procedurally improper, irrational, taken in bad faith, or amounted to misfeasance in public office.
She further ruled that MACC was within its rights to request the Immigration Department to impose a travel restriction on party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during the course of investigations three years ago.
The court heard that although the freezing orders did not explicitly bar Muhyiddin from leaving the country, evidence showed MACC had sought the travel restriction to ensure the investigation process could proceed without disruption.
Justice Aliza said such action was permissible as part of maintaining the integrity and effectiveness of a criminal investigation.
Muhyiddin is currently facing trial on four charges of abuse of power and two counts of money laundering involving RM232.5 million and RM195 million.
On May 29, 2023, Bersatu executive secretary Suhaimi Yahya filed a judicial review application challenging the freezing of the party’s CIMB and AmBank accounts.
The party alleged that the accounts were frozen in April 2023 without a seizure order issued under Section 50(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).
