By KUALA LUMPUR: Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng’s corruption case involving the state’s undersea tunnel project at the Butterworth Sessions Court will be heard together with his case at the Sessions Court here.
The Butterworth Sessions Court had on Aug 10 allowed the prosecution’s application to transfer the case to Kuala Lumpur for it to be heard together as they involved the same transaction.
At today’s proceedings before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi, deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin requested the charge to be read out again to Lim, 60.
Lim, who is Bagan MP, maintained his not guilty plea. He is represented by lawyer Gobind Singh Deo.
Azura then set Oct 12 for mention.
Lim was charged in his capacity as Penang chief minister then. He is alleged to have used his position to obtain gratification of more than RM3.3 million to help a company owned by Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli to secure the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project.
Zarul is a director at Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd.
Lim was charged with committing the offence at the office of the Penang chief minister at Level 28, Komtar, George Town, Penang, between January 2011 and August 2017.
The charge was framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which provides imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
For the case here, Lim was charged with soliciting gratification to help the company secure the Penang roads and undersea tunnel project.
He is alleged to have sought 10% of the profit to be made by the company from Zarul near The Gardens Hotel at Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here in March 2011.–FMT
