BUTTERWORTH: Former chief minister and finance minister Lim Guan Eng has pleaded not guilty at the sessions court to a count of using his position then to seek personal gratification of RM3.3 million in connection with the Penang undersea tunnel project.
He was alleged to have committed the act to help a contractor company, owned by Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, to win a tender bid for the project between January 2011 and August 2017 at his office in Komtar then.
The DAP secretary-general faces a maximum 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to five times the amount of gratification.
“This is a baseless charge and I will fight it to prove that I am not guilty and did not receive money,” Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general and Member of Parliament (MP) for Bagan, told a media conference at his constituency service centre here after the court proceedings.
Lim had urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to furnish evidence that cash had exchanged hands, but they were unable to do so.
“I will fight in court to prove I am innocent. If such an accusation can stand without any evidence, then anyone can get it,” he added.
The prosecution had also urged the court to impose a gag order on outside commentaries about the trial, which his lawyer Gobind Singh Deo rebutted by saying the case was of public interest.
The RM6.3 billion tunnel project, which will link Gurney Drive on the island with Bagan Ajam on the mainland, also involves three paired highway roads.
Lim was charged under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act.
The charges were read out before Justice Datuk Ahmad Azhari Abdul Hamid.
The prosecution sought for the case to be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur sessions court on grounds that most of the investigative papers were stored there.
Ahmad Azhari allowed it and also permitted that the previous bail of RM1 million for a different charge at the Kuala Lumpur High Court be extended to this case.
The charge sheet stated that Lim was to have received the alleged corrupt payments in several instalments.
Earlier he arrived at the courthouse with his wife Betty Chew, eldest son Marcus, his father, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, and other family members.
Leading the defence is a three-member team comprising Gobind, Ramkarpal Singh Deo, R.S.N. Rayer and V. Vemal Arasan.
The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Ahmad Akram Gharib, Muhamad Mukhzany Fariz Mohd Mokhtar and Francine Cheryl Rajendram.
This is the second corruption charge slapped on Lim. Earlier on Friday, he was charged with soliciting a bribe in connection with the same mega project, which he had also claimed trial.
The case will be re-mentioned at the sessions court in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 9.
