BUTTERWORTH: Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng was charged at the Sessions Court here today with abusing his power to obtain RM3.3 million bribe in connection with the Penang undersea tunnel project.
Lim, 60, who is also a former finance minister and DAP secretary-general, nodded his head in understanding when the charge which was read to him by the court interpreter before Judge Ahmad Azhari Abdul Hamid.
He, however, pleaded "tidak bersalah" (not guilty) to the charge.
Lim was alleged to have abused his power as the chief minister to obtain RM3.3 million monetary gratification as an inducement to appoint Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli's company to implement the RM6,341,383,702 three paired roads and undersea tunnel and three paired roads projects in the state.
He allegedly committed the offence at the Chief Minister's Office on Level 28 of Komtar between January 2011 and August 2017.
He was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.
Under Section 24(1) of the Act, he faces a jail term of not more than 20 years, a fine of no less than five times the amount involved, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Ahmad Akram Gharib, Mohd Mukhzany Fariz Mohd Mokhtar and Francine Cheryl Rajendram prosecuted while Lim was represented by lawyers Gobind Singh Deo, Ramkarpal Singh, RSN Rayer and V Vemal Arasan.
Today's charge came three days after Lim claimed trial at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Friday to soliciting a bribe from the company awarded the contract to undertake the controversial undersea tunnel project.
Lim was accused of asking for 10 per cent of profits from Zarul to help his company, Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd, secure the project to build the undersea tunnel.
He was charged under Section 16 (a)(A) of the MACC Act, which carries maximum 20 years' jail and a fine of up to five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi fixed bail at RM1 million with two sureties and ordered Lim to surrender his passport to court.
Both cases will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on September 9.
Earlier, Lim arrived at the court room about 8.58am, accompanied by his wife, Betty Chew Gek Cheng, son Marcus Lim, father Lim Kit Siang, mother Neo Yoke Tee and sister Lim Hui Ying.
He was then seen talking to Gobind before whispering something to Chew.
Also present in the courtroom were Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and several of his state executive councillors.
The case began at 9.09am and ended about an hour later.
Ahmad Akram started the proceeding today by applying for the case to be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, saying that Lim faced a similar charge there under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act.
"The obvious factor in both charges is that it involved the same main witness, in this case Zarul.
"Both charges also involved the same project, namely the three paired roads and undersea tunnel project," he said.
He added that it was also clear from the two charges faced by Lim, that the offence under Section 16(a)(A) was in consequence and in relation to the offence under Section 23(1).
Ahmad Akram further cited that for both charges, investigations were centred in the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya.
"Since the trial involved a commercial offence, almost all exhibits which will be produced by the prosecution is in the form of documents.
"All documents are being kept by the investigation team. As such, for security and logistics reasons in handling the exhibits, the trial should be held at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
"Also, for both charges, most of the prosecution's main witnesses are from the Klang Valley.
"And for today's charge, evidence put forth by the prosecution would show that the handover of graft does not only happen once but in phases. Some of the handing over was done in the Klang Valley," he added.
He also pointed out that as a member of parliament, Lim was needed to attend parliament session in Kuala Lumpur.
"As such, our application for the transfer is not prejudice and will not cause unnecessary burden to him when he is needed to attend trial.
"The accused has also been granted a RM1 million bail with two sureties pending his case in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court and for his passport to be surrendered to the court," he added.
Gobind, however, objected to the application, pointing to the fact that there were no details of where and when the alleged transactions of RM3.3 million were made.
He further claimed that the charge against Lim was a broad allegation without any details and a general timeline spread out over six years.
Ahmad Azhari, however, allowed the prosecution's application.
An exchange also took place when Ahmad Akram applied to the court for an order to prevent anyone from giving sub-judice comments on the case.
He referred to an article quoting DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua that Zarul was not a reliable witness in Lim's corruption case.
"What he (Pua) said is sub-judice to the case, which hasn't even started yet. It had gone overboard.
"As such, to prevent recurrence of such an incident, I hope the court can come out with an order," he said.
Gobind objected, saying that the same application was rejected by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court last Friday.
"There were also opposing parties who publicly commented on the case against Lim," he pointed out.
Ahmad Azhari agreed with Gobind and rejected the prosecution's application.
The judge also allowed an extension of the RM1 million bail from the earlier case for today's case.
The controversial Penang undersea tunnel project was again probed by the anti-graft authority recently following fresh leads.
The MACC had questioned more than a dozen people in connection with the project, including Chow and state executive councillors Jagdeep Singh Deo, Chong Eng, and Phee Boon Poh.
The MACC also visited the offices of state Public Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari and Deputy Chief Minister ll Dr P. Ramasamy at Komtar in Penang.
Lim served as Penang Chief Minister from 2008 to 2018.