KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Tuesday (March 9) pleaded not guilty to an amended charge of money laundering involving funds from his family-owned welfare foundation Yayasan Akalbudi at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. Zahid was alleged to have given, in cash, the RM7,511,250.20 (S$2.45 million) to Bukit Bintang-based money changer Omar Ali Abdullah and instructed him to convert the money into 35 cheques which were later given to Messrs Lewis & Co for the opening of Maybank fixed deposit accounts. The money had originated from questionable sources, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigator Mohd Fahmee Mohamad Nor testified.