MoF Official Confirms in High Court She Received No Direct Instructions from Muhyiddin to Award Contracts in the Jana Wibawa Trial.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — High Court testimony today significantly bolstered the defence of former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as a senior Finance Ministry (MoF) official confirmed under cross-examination that she received no direct instructions or communications whatsoever from Muhyiddin regarding contractor evaluations under the Jana Wibawa Programme.

Testifying as the 25th prosecution witness, Government Procurement Division Secretary Datin Rosni Mohd Yusoff—who served as the chairperson of the Jana Wibawa Contractor Evaluation Committee—admitted that her actions were executed strictly based on institutional administrative channels rather than personal directives from the former prime minister.

During cross-examination by lead defence counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, Rosni conceded that there was no documentation showing Muhyiddin had ever instructed that a specific company must be awarded a project through direct negotiation.

Amer Hamzah: “So you did not receive direct instructions from Tan Sri (Muhyiddin Yassin)?”

Rosni: “None. Surely I wouldn’t get direct instructions from the PMO.”

Amer Hamzah: “So, there is no document showing that Tan Sri stated this company must be awarded (the project) via direct negotiation, agreed?”

Rosni: “There was an instruction stating to agree to an evaluation being conducted… I received instructions, Your Honour, if I didn’t receive instructions, how could I conduct an evaluation? The instructions must also be in writing.”

Crucially, the witness agreed with the defence counsel’s suggestion that even if recommendations originated from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) or the Prime Minister, she would not have conducted any evaluation without official directives from her immediate departmental superiors.

When pressed further by the defence that a departmental minute or administrative note requesting an evaluation did not equate to a personal instruction from the Prime Minister for a company to be awarded a contract via direct negotiation, Rosni replied “instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office”.

Rosni explained that her committee evaluated candidate firms across established technical and financial criteria, preparing formal approval memorandums for the Finance Minister before any direct negotiation recommendations were submitted.

The testimony strongly reinforces the defence’s standing position that the Jana Wibawa programme operated through established civil service procedures and statutory Treasury frameworks, without executive overreach, personal solicitation, or direct instructions from Muhyiddin.

Regarding a letter submitted by the PMO to the Ministry of Finance involving KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd, Rosni said her side received information on the company’s performance so a re-evaluation could be conducted. KCJ Engineering had applied for the project to build a new road connecting Felda Bukit Jalor to Gemas, Negeri Sembilan, but had initially failed contractor evaluations due to having sick projects and unsatisfactory work performance.

Rosni confirmed that the Contractor Evaluation Committee Meeting Decision dated Feb 26, 2021, found that the company ultimately passed the evaluation criteria across all three stages and recommended KCJ Engineering via direct negotiation to the Minister of Finance.

Muhyiddin, 79, who at the material time was the Prime Minister and Bersatu President, faces four charges under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 of allegedly using his position for bribes totaling RM225.3 million for the party from four companies—Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd—as well as Datuk Azman Yusoff, in relation to the Jana Wibawa Project. The offences carry a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

The Pagoh Member of Parliament also faces three charges under Section 4(1)(b) read together with Section 87(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA) involving RM200 million in unlawful proceeds from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd deposited into Bersatu’s AmBank and CIMB Bank accounts between February 2021 and July 2022. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of five times the value of the illegal proceeds or RM5 million, whichever is higher.

The trial before High Court Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin resumes on Aug 26.

–NMT