KUALA LUMPUR (June 4): The graft trial against former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has been postponed to July 12 due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to curb the escalating Covid-19 crisis in the country. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, who is leading the prosecution team, told theedgemarkets.com that the trial which was supposed to start on Tuesday, June 8, has been pushed to July 12. 

Previously, Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi confirmed that the trial will begin as scheduled on June 8 to June 11 as the first week of Lim’s trial; however, she has now had to reschedule it to July 12. 

Lim is represented by lawyer Gobind Singh Deo. 

On Aug 7 last year, Lim, 60, was charged in his capacity as the then chief minister of Penang to have corruptly solicited gratification to help a company secure the undersea tunnel project.

He is alleged to have sought 10% of the profit to be made by the company from its owner Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli nearby The Gardens Hotel, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra here in March 2011.

On Aug 10, Lim was charged in the Butterworth Sessions Court with using his position as the then chief minister of Penang to solicit RM3.3 million in gratification for himself as an inducement for helping the company to secure the project valued at RM6.3 billion.

On Sept 11, the Bagan Member of Parliament was charged in the same court with two counts of causing two plots of land belonging to the Penang government worth RM208.8 million to be disposed of to two companies that were linked to the state’s undersea tunnel project.

Lim has pleaded not guilty to all four charges. 

On top of the four graft charges, Lim is also facing a separate charge together with his wife Betty Chew Gek Cheng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon.

For this case, Lim was charged on Aug 11 in his capacity as the then chief minister of Penang and the chairman of Penang Development Corp's (PDC) procurement board then, with using his position for gratification involving RM372,009 for his wife through Excel Property Management & Consultancy Sdn Bhd.