KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 9): Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng will face two new charges in Butterworth on Friday, Sept 11.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told the Sessions Court here that a summons had been served on Guan Eng, who is also a former finance minister, and he had to appear in court on Friday to face the two charges.
“We have served the accused person a summons to inform him of the charges under Section 403 of the Penal Code,” the DPP told Justice Azura Alwi today.
Guan Eng, 59, was charged three times last month.
Gobind Singh Deo, a lawyer acting on behalf of Guan Eng, confirmed with the judge they had received the summons.
The two charges under Section 403 of the Penal Code are for dishonest misappropriation of property.
All of Guan Eng’s previous charges have been transferred to the Sessions Court, and Wan Shaharuddin informed the court that they will also transfer the new case in Penang on Friday to Kuala Lumpur, at which time a new mention date for the cases will be set.
Justice Azura then fixed Oct 12 as the new mention date for the two cases already before her court. The two cases involve charges brought against Guan Eng on Aug 7 and Aug 10 respectively.
Gobind, who is also the Puchong Member of Parliament (MP), told the court he found out about the new charges last week after news portals broke them, and he asked that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to at least inform them before such information is leaked to the public.
“On behalf of the defence, I hope the MACC does not issue informal information to the public. At least inform us in advance,” he said.
He also said the defence had not conceded to moving the case to the Sessions Court here, and that will be decided on Friday once the charges in Butterworth are read out to Guan Eng.
Guan Eng, who is also the DAP secretary-general, claimed trial in the Sessions Court here last month to one charge of soliciting a 10% cut in profit from the undersea tunnel project from Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd senior executive director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli.
He allegedly asked for the bribe at The Gardens Hotel around Mid Valley City here in 2011.
The Bagan MP has also been charged in the Butterworth Sessions Court in Penang with abusing his position as a public officer to assist Zarul's company to be appointed to undertake the construction of main roads and the undersea tunnel, reportedly worth RM6.341 billion, to obtain a RM3.3 million bribe.
Guan Eng, who was then the chief minister of Penang, allegedly committed the crime between January 2011 and August 2017 in Komtar, Penang.
He also faces another unrelated charge of abuse of power in relation to a bribe purportedly received by his wife Betty Chew.
He is charged with abusing his post as a public officer during his tenure as the chief minister and chairman of Penang Development Corp's tender committee to ensure that Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd was given an invitation for the proposed workers' village project in Batu Kawan worth RM11.61 million, which Chew allegedly had interests in.
Chew allegedly received RM372,009 from Excel Property Management & Consultancy Sdn Bhd.