Court postpones decision in Liong Sik’s PKFZ case to March 9 *latest!

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KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today postponed to March 9 its decision on whether former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik should be ordered to enter his defence or freed on a charge of cheating the government in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi apologised for the postponement, saying he needed more time to arrive at a decision.

The court was scheduled to have announced its decision today.

Dr Ling, 69, who was the Transport minister for 17 years from 1986, is charged with cheating the government by not disclosing to the Cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5 per cent per annum on the purchase price of the land for the PKFZ project, which had been fixed at RM1,088,456,000 by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), based on RM25 per sq ft, inclusive of the coupon/interest rate.

He also faces two alternative (amended) charges, of cheating and intentionally not disclosing to the Cabinet that the 7.5 per cent per annum was an additional interest rate on the land price.

Dr Ling, represented by counsel Wong Khian Keong, is charged with committing the offences at the fourth floor of the Prime Minister’s Office, Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002.

The first charge, under Section 418 of the Penal Code, carries a penalty of up to seven years jail, or a fine, or both, upon conviction while the two alternative (amended) charges, under Section 417 of the Penal Code, carry a penalty of up to five years jail, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

The prosecution, led by DPP Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, had adduced the testimony of 25 witnesses, among them Cabinet ministers and senior officers of the JPPH. – Bernama