It is confirmed. Former MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik (pic) can rest easy now that Putrajaya has decided not to appeal against his acquittal in the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) case.
With today being the last day to file the appeal after the former transport minister was acquitted on October 25, The Malaysian Insider was made to understand that the Attorney-General's Chambers had not done so when the deadline passed at 4pm at the High Court registry.
The government made the headline-grabbing charge against the former transport minister in 2009, where Ling was said to have deceived the Cabinet by failing to disclose there was an additional interest rate of 7.5% to the purchase price of RM25 psf in the PKFZ deal, despite knowing that the interest rate was already included in the price.
He then allegedly induced the Cabinet to approve the land purchase, which caused losses to the government.
The PKFZ project, initially estimated at RM1.1 billion after it was mooted by Ling in 1997, more than quadrupled in cost to RM4.6 billion by 2007.
The case was transferred to the High Court the following year.
High Court Judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi, in acquitting Ling on October 25, said the defence had created reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Manoj Kurup, who assisted Deputy Solicitor-General III Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, had said the prosecution would study the judgment before deciding whether to appeal.
Nine witnesses, including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, gave evidence for Ling.
Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years, was also the finance minister between 2000 and 2003, when Ling was alleged to have committed the offences.
The judgment showed that Dr Mahathir's evidence rebutted the prosecution's case, which led to Ling's acquittal.
The judge had said evidence by the defence revealed that Dr Ling did not conceal anything from the Cabinet.
He also ruled that Ling could not be held accountable for any mistakes, misleading information or inaccuracies in the preparation of the ministry's documents regarding the land acquisition, this despite Ling signing the documents.
"If any, the blame should be apportioned wholly and squarely upon the officers of the Transport Ministry who drafted and prepared the documents.
"It turned out that the accused was not the numero uno (number one) of his ministry. He was the transporter," said the judge in his 42-page judgment.
Police started probing the PKFZ land deal in early 2009 after then Port Klang Authority chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng lodged a report following a financial audit of the project. – November 8, 2013.
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