Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail today said that more people will be charged in relation to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, starting with an engineer with Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd who will face charges on Monday.

NONE Earlier today former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager OC Phang and two others were charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) and making false claims in the Klang Sessions Court.

Abdul Gani said in a statement that the action taken against the three today was a result of joint effort put in by the AG Chamber with the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in the past few months.

"There are lots of issues involved - legal and factual, which are not only complex but require substantial amount of evidence gathering," he said.

He added that as a result of the joint effort by the three agencies, Phang, chief operating officer of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd which was the turnkey contractor of the project Steven Abok and architect Bernard Tan Seng Swee of BTA Architect were charged this morning.

Engineer to face charges on Monday

An engineer with Kuala Dimensi, Law Jenn Dong will be charged on Monday with making false claims involving a total sum of RM122.267 million. He is alleged to have committed the offence with Tan.

"They must be made answerable for their roles and actions. I decided to prefer charges against these individuals today as I could not wait for the authorities to complete their investigations into the whole scheme as that would take a long time.

azlan "The charging of other individuals will come in stages," promised the AG.

Phang was charged with CBT amounting to RM254 million to which she claimed trial. She was granted a RM350,000 bail, with one surety. The case will start on Jan 12, on which date she has been asked to surrender her passport.

Abok and Tan meanwhile were jointly charged with two counts making false claims involving a total sum of RM5.417 million.

Tan was also charged with together with another person still at large (Law Jenn Dong) with 24 counts of making false claims involving a total sum of RM122.267 million.

They claimed trial over the charges and bail was set at RM250,000 for Tan and RM200,000 for Abok, both with a surety each. Their case will be mentioned on Feb 4.

Lawyer Tan Hock Chuan appeared for Abok while George Varghese represented Tan.

Anwar: Go for the big sharks too

The PKFZ controversy arose after the cost to develop the massive 400-hectare integrated cargo distribution hub spiralled from RM2 billion to RM4.6 billion.

NONE Meanwhile Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today welcomed the case preferred against the trio but added that the bigger players should not be allowed to escape.

"We welcome this although it is a small move. I hope this is not the beginning of a cover-up on the issue," he told reporters in Parliament.

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang also urged the authorities to start preferring charges against the main persons behind the PKFZ's failure.

Ong Tee Keat: Job not done yet

Meanwhile Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat, who was pivotal in probing the PKFZ scandal, said the decision to charge was an indication that the government does not take such scandals lightly.

NONE "It also proves that the government walks the talk when it comes to upholding accountability and transparency... today's decision to charge three individuals show the government does not cover up wrongdoings," he wrote in his blog from Hanoi where he is attending Asean Transport Ministers' meeting.

He also said that his work in regards to PKFZ was not completed "just because a few people have been hauled up in court".

"We need to work closely to resolve outstanding administration and operational issues at the PKA and PKFZ levels.

"PKA would work very closely with the PKFZ super taskforce to ensure that the eventual results of the entire exercise will bring about positive results which are in the best interests of the public," he said.

Related story: PKFZ: OC Phang charged with CBT, claims trial