‘If it’s from the PM, I will act on it’: Ex-finance minister Tengku Zafrul says in Muhyiddin’s trial

‘If it’s from the PM, I will act on it’: Ex-finance minister Tengku Zafrul says in Muhyiddin’s trial



Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex for his ongoing trial July 7, 2026. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

First Published: Tuesday, 07 Jul 2026 7:46 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz today confirmed he did have the power when he was finance minister to not act on companies’ applications for government projects, but said he would ensure that the Finance Ministry considers the applications if they were forwarded by the prime minister.

Tengku Zafrul, 53, said this while testifying as the prosecution’s 11th witness in Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president and former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s power abuse and money laundering trial.

Tengku Zafrul was previously the finance minister from March 2020 to August 2021 during Muhyiddin’s administration.

Since yesterday, he has been testifying on lists of companies forwarded either by then-PM Muhyiddin or the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for the Finance Ministry to consider for government projects under the Bumiputera contractors’ programme Jana Wibawa.

These were listed in the High Court as letters to then-finance minister Tengku Zafrul, along with brief handwritten notes known as “minutes” by Muhyiddin on the documents sent:then-PM Muhyiddin’s November 13, 2020 letter to propose 54 contractors to be appointed through direct negotiation or without open tender for 54 projects under Jana Wibawa (with Muhyiddin asking the Finance Ministry to immediately consider the proposal);
PMO’s February 3, 2021 letter along with five companies’ applications for a Pulau Indah highway project in Klang, Selangor (with Muhyiddin’s minutes agreeing for the project to be via a pre-qualified or limited tender among the five companies).
PMO’s March 17, 2021 letter along with five other companies’ applications to build the Klang Utara district police headquarters in Selangor (with Muhyiddin’s minutes also agreeing for the project to be via a pre-qualified or limited tender among these five).

When cross-examined by Muhyiddin’s lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad today, Tengku Zafrul confirmed that he has the power to decide whether to take action or not, as long as companies’ applications reach the Finance Ministry or are brought to his attention as the Finance Minister.

Tengku Zafrul agreed that it does not matter where the companies’ project applications come from as long as it was brought to his attention, also agreeing that the minutes by Muhyiddin were to “bring to my attention for consideration”.


“Yes, but if it’s from the prime minister, I will act on it,” Tengku Zafrul said.

When Amer suggested that the minutes from Muhyiddin were “not final”, Tengku Zafrul replied: “I will act to ensure it is put to consideration.”

Tengku Zafrul confirmed he had as finance minister received many minutes from Muhyiddin, and agreed with Amer Hamzah’s suggestion that Muhyiddin’s minutes to the Finance Ministry or to him by itself were “nothing unusual”.

While Amer Hamzah suggested that the minutes were a way of highlighting matters and passing it on if there is anything to be done, Tengku Zafrul said it would depend on how the minutes is written as “there would be instances the minutes would be clear that you should not proceed”.

“For example, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin can say ‘I do not agree’,” Tengku Zafrul said.

But specifically for the Jana Wibawa projects, Tengku Zafrul agreed with Amer Hamzah that Muhyiddin was merely notifying him and asking him to look into the companies’ applications for the projects.



Former finance minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex to testify as a key prosecution witness at the corruption trial involving former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin July 7, 2026. — Picture by Raymond Manuel



About the proposed 54 contractors for 54 projects list

Amer Hamzah suggested that the list of 54 companies sent by Muhyiddin to him for Jana Wibawa projects did not indicate “preferential treatment for all these companies”, which Tengku Zafrul agreed to.

Tengku Zafrul also agreed when Amer Hamzah said the list is “also not an indication that any of the companies should be favoured”.

Tengku Zafrul agreed that there was no interference or meddling by Muhyiddin as the PM or the PMO in terms of both the awarding of the projects and the government’s evaluation of whether the companies were qualified for the projects.

When asked if the list of 54 companies being brought to his attention meant that the companies should be approved by the Finance Ministry and awarded the projects, Tengku Zafrul replied that “it means the companies should be considered”.

Tengku Zafrul said he could not confirm whether all these 54 companies have been awarded projects.

Earlier, Amer Hamzah suggested that the then prime minister Muhyiddin “would not be micromanaging every single aspect of every economic stimulus packages” and that there would be officers to assist him, with Tengku Zafrul then agreeing.

Among other things, Tengku Zafrul agreed with Amer Hamzah that the fact that the list was enclosed in a letter signed by then-PM Muhyiddin “is not indicative” that it was the PM who actually prepared the contents of the list.

Tengku Zafrul said he did not know who prepared the list of 54 companies, but agreed that this kind of information would typically be compiled by officers.

The list had listed the proposed 54 contractors, along with the names of the 54 proposed projects along with the project value.



Lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad is seen during former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddn Yassin’s corruption case at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex March 10, 2026. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin



Earlier today, Tengku Zafrul confirmed at the High Court that Malaysia has more Bumiputera contractors than the 54 companies in the list forwarded by Muhyiddin.

Tengku Zafrul also confirmed to lead prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin that Muhyiddin never asked him to cancel the government procurement for KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, or the government procurement processes for both Sutracom Sdn Bhd and Nepturis Sdn Bhd.

KCJ Engineering was one of the 54 companies and was awarded a RM62 million project to build a new road from Felda Bukit Jalor to Gemas, Negeri Sembilan.

Sutracom and Nepturis (both which had applications forwarded to Tengku Zafrul) each separately received the Finance Ministry’s approval for the RM605.2 million Pulau Indah highway project and the RM141 million project to build the Klang Utara district police headquarters.

Previously, evidence in this trial such as bank documents showed that KCJ Engineering’s four cheques totalling RM800,000 were deposited into Bersatu’s CIMB account on October 12, 2022, while a RM1 million cheque from Nepturis was deposited into Bersatu’s AmBank account on February 21, 2022.

In this trial, Muhyiddin is facing seven charges, namely four counts of alleged power abuse to obtain RM225.3m bribes for Bersatu (from Nepturis, Azman Yusoff, Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, and Mamfor Sdn Bhd) and three counts of alleged money laundering through money that Bersatu received from Bukhary Equity.

The trial before High Court judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin resumes tomorrow, with Tengku Zafrul to continue testifying.