Ex-minister Dr Ling acquitted of cheating Putrajaya in PKFZ land deal
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| Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik |
High Court Judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi, in acquitting the former transport minister, said the defence had created a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case.
Nine witnesses, including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, gave evidence for Dr Ling, who was also a MCA president.He was first charged in a Sessions Court in Putrajaya in 2009 but the public prosecutor transferred the case to the High Court the following year.
Dr Ling, 70, was alleged to have deceived the Cabinet by hiding the fact that there was an additional interest rate of 7.5% to the purchase price of RM25 per square foot in the deal, despite knowing that the interest rate was already included in the price.
He had then allegedly induced the Cabinet to approve the land purchase, which caused losses to the government.
Dr Ling also faced two alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet that the terms of the purchase of the 999.5 acres of land, at RM25psf plus 7.5% interest, were acknowledged and agreed to by the Valuation and Property Services Department despite knowing that there was no such agreement.
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.
The PKFZ project, initially estimated at RM1.1 billion after it was mooted by Dr Ling in 1997, more than quadrupled in cost to RM4.6 billion by 2007. – October 25, 2013.
MALAYSIAN INSIDER
