Decision on Liong Sik’s PKFZ cheating trial set for Oct 25



KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — he two-year-old cheating trial of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik over a land purchase for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project is nearing its end, with the High Court here today setting October 25 as the decision date.

In the clarification stage today, Dr Ling’s lead counsel Wong Kian Kheong told the court that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad were among five Cabinet ministers who had testified that they were not deceived by Dr Ling.

“Five Cabinet ministers said they were not cheated, not deceived,” Wong said.

He listed these five ministers as defence witnesses Dr Mahathir, Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir and prosecution witnesses Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri and Datuk Seri Mohd Effendi Norwawi.

Wong argued that for Dr Ling to be found guilty, the prosecution had to prove that an individual was cheated and the cheating had then caused the loss suffered.

Among other points raised by Wong was that witnesses had testified that Dr Ling was not involved in negotiations with the land vendor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB).

He added that Dr Ling had never personally prepared or amended ministry documents related to the land purchase.

But DPP Manoj Kurup in turn criticised Dr Ling for previous testimony where he said: “I close my eyes when it comes to figures”, disputing it by pointing out that the former transport minister had himself written his agreement on a memorandum from his ministry in 2000, purportedly indicating that Dr Ling had full information.

“The court should not accept that kind of defence, blaming things on officers, blaming things on ministry,” Kurup argued, pointing out that information would have been readily available to the government.

He also disputed the testimony of Fong, saying that the former minister’s statements would imply that the Cabinet “is in the habit” of approving purchases without knowing the final amount.

“Surely this would cause havoc to our budget,” Kurup said, arguing in his written submission that it would be akin to the Cabinet issuing a “blank cheque”.

Kurup also said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, were not called as witnesses because the prosecution felt that it had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

He also questioned the relevance of calling the duo.

In his written submission, Kurup disputed the argument that Dr Ling was not given a fair trial, saying that the delay between the alleged offence in 2002 and the 2010 charges was “not deliberate”.

Kurup explained Dr Ling’s involvement was only discovered through a report by the former Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman, Lee Hwa Beng, who had taken over the government body after the PKFZ scandal erupted.

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

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 eight witnesses.

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.

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 faces 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.

If convicted on the first charge, he is liable to a punishment under section 418 of the Penal Code of a maximum jail term of seven years, or a fine, or both.

The alternative charges carry a lighter sentence under section 417 of the Penal Code with a jail term of up to five years, or a fine, or both.

Since December 2009, six individuals have been charged in court including former-MCA president Dr Ling, and his successor as transport minister, former MCA deputy president Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy.

Both are accused of lying to the Cabinet.