Seorang lagi bekas menteri minta tuduhan digugurkan dalam kes PKFZ

Bekas Menteri Pengangkutan Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy (gambar) memfailkan representasi kepada Pejabat Peguam Negara bagi kali kedua untuk menggugurkan tiga pertuduhan menipu terhadapnya berhubung projek Zon Bebas Pelabuhan Klang (PKFZ).

Pihak defendan memaklumkan perkara itu kepada Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur hari ini.

Mahkamah memutuskan 13 Januari sebagai tarikh sebutan semula kes.

Perbicaraan hari ini menjadi buruan media setelah usaha menghubungi peguam dan pendakwa raya menemui kegagalan.

Selepas beberapa panggilan telefon dan kiriman pesanan ringkas sejak pagi tadi kepada Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Pejabat Peguam Negara Datuk Nordin Hassan dan peguam defendan, salah seorang peguam defendan mengesahkan perbicaraan itu dalam satu pesanan ringkas namun enggan mengulas panjang.

Permohonan sebelumnya kepada Pejabat Peguam Negara untuk tuduhan berkenaan digugurkan telah ditolak.

Chan dituduh pada Februari 2011 dengan tiga dakwaan menipu mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mencecah RM1.9 bilion berhubung projek penghantaran di antara 2004 dan 2006.

Beliau berdepan lima tahun penjara bagi setiap pertuduhan.

Projek PKFZ yang diilhamkan oleh bekas Presiden MCA Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik pada mulanya dianggarkan bernilai RM1.1 bilion pada 1997 namun meningkat empat kali ganda iaitu RM4.6 bilion pada 2007.

Pada 25 Oktober lalu, Dr Ling dibebaskan daripada pertuduhan menipu Kabinet setelah gagal mendedahkan terdapat pertambahan kadar faedah 7.5% dalam pembelian RM25 sekaki persegi dalam urusan pembelian tanah PKFZ walaupun mengetahui kadar faedah itu telah disertakan dalam harga asal.

Pejabat Peguam Negara tidak membuat rayuan kes itu yang berakhir pada Jumaat lalu.

Dalam penghakiman Dr Ling, Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi mendapati bekas menteri itu tidak boleh dipersalahkan dalam maklumat tidak tepat oleh kementeriannya untuk pembelian tanah itu meskipun dokumen itu ditandatangani oleh beliau.

“Kesalahan itu patut diletakkan juga kepada pegawai Kementerian Pengangkutan yang mendraf dan menyediakan dokumen,” katanya. – 11 November, 2013.

Another former transport minister in PKFZ case applies to drop cheating charges

Former transport minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy has filed a representation to the Attorney General's Chambers for a second time, to drop the three cheating charges against him over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

The High Court was informed of this today when the case came up for mention. The court then set January 13 for the next mention.

Today's proceeding was shrouded in secrecy as the prosecutors and lawyers refused to comment on its outcome. There was no word on which courtroom the mention would be heard.

One of the defence lawyers later confirmed that the proceeding did take place, but refused further comment.

Chan's previous representation to the AG's chambers for the charges to be dropped was rejected.

On October 25, former MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik was acquitted of a charge of deceiving the Cabinet by failing to disclose 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.

Last Friday, the AG's Chambers decided not to appeal against the acquittal.

In acquitting Dr Ling, High Court judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi ruled that the former minister could not be held accountable for any mistake, misleading information or inaccuracy in the preparation of the ministry's documents regarding the land acquisition, although Ling signed 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," the judge had said.

Chan was charged in February 2011 with three counts of cheating then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of RM1.9 billion over the trans-shipment project between 2004 and 2006. He faces up to five years’ jail on each count.

The project was initially tagged at RM1.1 billion after it was mooted by Dr Ling in 1997, but more than quadrupled to RM4.6 billion by 2007. - November 11, 2013.

Gov't not appealing Ling's acquittal in PKFZ case

The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has confirmed it is not appealing against former Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik's acquittal in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) cheating case.

The confirmation came from deputy solicitor-general III Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah ( left ) in a text message SMS to Malaysiakini .

Earlier, sources have informed Malaysiakini that as off late this afternoon, there has not been any instructions from the AGC to appeal the decision, despite it being the last day in the 14-day stipulated period.

With the decision not to appeal, the prosecution is left with Ling's successor as transport minister and former MCA deputy president, Chan Kong Choy, to face trial over the charge of cheating the government over the PKFZ project.

Immediately following Ling's acquittal, DPP Manoj Kurup, who led the prosecution team, had said they will study the judgment and will decide on whether or not to file an appeal.

Previously, the prosecution had also decided not the appeal the acquittal of Abdul Razak Baginda, political analyst and a close confidante of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, in the high-profile case of murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Coincidentally, in both Ling and Altantuya's case, both defence and prosecutors are the same, with Tun Majid leading the chambers while Wong Kian Kheong representing both Ling and Abdul Razak.

In the past, other former VIP's who were charged but were later acquitted following a trial included the late former Perwaja Bhd chairperson Eric Chia and also former Land and Co-operative Development minister Kasitah Gaddam.

The AGC also did not appeal Kasitah Gaddam's acquittal.

Ling was acquitted on Oct 25 of cheating the government in the multi-billion PKFZ project after the Kuala Lumpur High Court found that the defence had successfully created doubt as to the prosecution's case.

Justice Ahmadi Asnawi said Ling cannot be held accountable for any mistakes, misleading information or inaccuracies in the preparation of the ministry's documents which was tabled to the cabinet headed by then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Charged with cheating

The 70-year-old former MCA president had been charge with cheating the government by not disclosing to the cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5 percent per annum on the purchase price of the land for the PKFZ project, knowing that it had been fixed at RM1,088,456,000 by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) based on RM25 per square foot, inclusive of the coupon/interest rates.

He also faced two alternative (amended) charges of cheating and intentionally not disclosing to the cabinet that the 7.5 percent per annum was an additional interest rate on the land price.

This had resulted in the government having to pay an alleged extra RM720 million for the land purchase.

Ling, who had served as transport minister over 17 years from 1986 to 2003, was alleged to have committed the offences at the fourth floor of the Prime Minister's Office, Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002.

Ling was ordered by the court to enter his defence last year after Justice Ahmadi found the prosecution had successfully proven a prima facie case against the former transport minister.

PKFZ cheating case: Government says won’t appeal Liong Sik’s acquittal

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — The government will not be appealing against a High Court ruling that saw former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik being acquitted of cheating charges over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

“No appeal,” lead prosecutor Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah told The Malay Mail Online in a brief text message today.

Tun Abdul Majid, who is also the Deputy Solicitor-General II, did not provide the reasons behind the Attorney-General Chambers’ decision to not proceed with an appeal in the high-profile case.

On October 25, High Court judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi today ruled that Dr Ling’s lawyers had managed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case and acquitted the former MCA president from the cheating charges hanging over his head for the past few years.

The trial started in August 2011, with Dr Ling ordered to enter his defence on March 9 last year while the defence closed its case on June 20 this year.

Dr Ling, who was Malaysia’s transport minister for 17 years from January 1986 to May 2003, was charged in July 2010 with deceiving the Cabinet into approving the land purchase for the PKFZ project, despite knowing that the approval would result in wrongful losses for the government.

Dr Ling also faced two alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the land purchase’s terms — at RM25 psf plus 7.5 per cent interest — had the acknowledgment and agreement of the Land Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) despite knowing that there was no such agreement.

The criminal offences were allegedly committed between September 25 and November 6 in 2002, a few months before he stopped serving as a transport minister.

In the trial over the Cabinet’s 2002 approval of the Port Klang Authority (PKA)’s purchase of the 999.3 acres of land from PKFZ’s turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), the prosecution had called 25 witnesses while the defence had called nine witnesses.

In his 42-page judgment, Ahmadi went through the evidence presented by Dr Ling’s lawyers, making repeated references to the testimonies of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir Fong - all of whom were Cabinet ministers during the former MCA president’s term in the Transport Ministry.

Ahmadi noted that the prosecution had to prove that Dr Ling had cheated the Cabinet by concealing the fact that the additional 7.5 per cent interest rate was not included in the purchase price of RM25 psf for the land, in order for the first charge and the first alternative charge to succeed.

But the judge pointed to the testimonies of Abdul Kadir, Dr Mahathir and Fong, who had all said that they knew and were aware that the 7.5 per cent interest was not included in the purchase price based on Cabinet papers presented to them.

“None of them harboured any belief that they have been misled, deceived, induced or cheated by the accused in respect of the said purchase,” the judge said of the three defence witnesses, noting that they had not lodged any police reports saying that they were cheated by Dr Ling.

In reference to the second alternative charge where Dr Ling was alleged to have made a misrepresentation to Cabinet, Ahmadi said that a note from the Transport Ministry did not contain anything to suggest that JPPH had certified other terms of the land purchase besides the RM25 psf price.

“There was no mention at all that the 7.5 per cent interest rate was certified and agreed by JPPH,” Ahmadi wrote.

He also noted that there was no documentary evidence from Dr Ling or evidence from five witnesses — prosecution witnesses Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri and Datuk Seri Mohd Effendi Norwawi, as well as Fong, Dr Mahathir and Abdul Kadir — to show that the RM25 psf price and the 7.5 interest rate were certified and agreed to by JPPH.

Dr Mahathir, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, has held that post from 1981 until October 31, 2003.

He was also then finance minister from June 2001 to 2003.

The PKFZ project which was proposed by Dr Ling in 1997, had an initial cost of RM1.1 billion that then ballooned to over RM4.6 billion in 2007.

Besides Dr Ling, a few individuals have since been charged in court, including his successor as transport minister, Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy.

The cheating trial of Chan, a former MCA deputy president, has yet to be heard.

Deadline passes, no appeal against Ling’s PKFZ acquittal

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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