Foundations are often set up for charitable causes but weaknesses in governance have made them vulnerable to abuse, a report by the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) shows.

One example is how some foundations, called yayasan in Malay, have featured prominently in the corruption trials of several high-profile politicians.

Citing reported details from these ongoing trials, C4 found that politicians use foundations - whether private, family-run or government-linked - to raise money from private corporations or government-linked companies (GLCs).

The foundations then serve as “war chests”...