High Court frees Liong Sik over cheating gov't charge

The High Court today acquitted and discharged former transport minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik on a charge of having cheated the government over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi said the defence had raised a reasonable doubt against all the charges brought against Ling.

Dr Ling, 70, who was called to make his defence on March 9 last year, had been charged with having cheated 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, knowing that it had been fixed at RM1,088,456,000 by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), based on RM25 psf, inclusive of the coupon/interest rates.

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

Dr Ling is alleged to have committed the offences at Level 4 of the Prime Minister's Office at the Perdana Putra Building in Putrajaya between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002.