KUALA LUMPUR (July 12): Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has asked the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to consider possibly dropping his ongoing undersea tunnel trial and charges.
A letter of representation was filed late last month, according to people familiar with the matter, following conflicting testimony made by star witness Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, who is presently facing impeachment proceedings.
The prosecution may state its stand on the representation when the trial resumes on July 19 before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi.
Zarul Ahmad has been undergoing impeachment proceedings since January before Azura, as she ruled there was discrepancy in his testimony in the trial, compared to his statement recorded with the MACC over businessman G Gnanaraja’s cheating charges at the Shah Alam Sessions Court.
Gnanaraja, however, pleaded guilty to an alternative charge under the Companies Act and was fined RM230,000.
Lim, 62, the Member of Parliament for Bagan, is charged of using his position as then Penang chief minister to solicit a 10% cut in the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project’s profits from Zarul Ahmad, in return for aiding the businessman’s company to secure the project.
Lim, who is also the DAP chairman, is accused of accepting RM3.3 million in kickbacks. A purported RM2 million paid on Aug 18, 2017 to Gnanaraja was said to be part of the RM3.3 million.
Lim also faces two counts of dishonest misappropriation of property in releasing two plots of state-owned land, cumulatively worth RM208.75 million, to Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd and Zenith Urban Development — two property companies linked to the controversial undersea tunnel project.