The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today set Jan 27 to decide whether former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik needs to enter his defence on a charge of cheating the government in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Justice Ahmadi Asnawi fixed the date after hearing submissions by deputy public prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah.

Yesterday, the former minister’s counsel, Wong Kian Kheong, made his submission.

azlan Ling, 68, is charged with cheating the government by not disclosing to the cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5 percent a year 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 charges, of cheating and intentionally omitting from the cabinet that the 7.5 percent a year was an additional interest rate on the land price.

The offences were allegedly committed at the fourth floor of the Prime Minister’s Office, Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002.

In his submission, Tun Abdul Majid said Ling must be held responsible for the contents of letters on the PKFZ project to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad because he had signed the letters.

He said Ling cannot blame anyone else since he already knew all the terms and conditions in the letters, including the figure ‘RM25 per square foot (psf)’ based on special value.

‘Accused pushed for purchase of land’

Tun Abdul Majid also submitted that the accused pushed for the purchase of  the land, signed the letter to Mahathir dated April 3, 2002, and wrote again on June 29 the same year.

“As a minister, he was responsible to brief the cabinet truthfully. He signed the note dated Oct 29, 2002, and in the ordinary course of events, being the minister in charge of transport, in turn having Lembaga Pelabuhan Klang (LPK) under its wing, there can be no one else but the accused who briefed the cabinet,” he said.

“The accused chose to agree with the contents in the note (dated Oct 29, 2002) despite knowing the note to be inaccurate and proceeded to brief the cabinet inaccurately. He concealed the valuation by JPPH.

“He did (this) to reveal to the cabinet that JPPH recommended and certified the price of RM21 psf as special value and paid cash, and he did not reveal that the RM25.82 psf of payment is deferred to 15 years, where all costs, inclusive of interest, have been taken into account in arriving at RM25.82 psf or RM25 psf and above.

“He did not reveal to the cabinet that RM25 psf and above could be considered for the purpose of the issuance of bond; instead, what was made known to the cabinet was RM25 psf as recommended and agreed upon by JPPH,” he said.

Tun Abdul Majid said, what was not made known to the cabinet was that 7.5 percent was over and above the RM25 psf or else the approval by the cabinet would have been for more than RM1.088 billion.

'No need for prosecution to call all the ministers'

“There was no necessity for the cabinet to approve in retrospect, on June 27, 2007. What happened on Oct 2, 2002 and Nov 6, 2002, is the cabinet only approved the amount of RM1.088 billion, (and it) clearly means that the cabinet was made to believe that RM1.088 billion was inclusive of interest,” he said.

Tun Abdul Majid said the accused was aware that RM1.088 billion was not the entire cost but did not want the cabinet to know that.

He also submitted that there was no need for the prosecution to call all the ministers, including Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, because the approval to purchase the land was made, and at RM1.088 billion.

“What is of paramount importance here is the figure RM1.088 billion. No other figure or amount was approved in November 2002 or else, there was no necessity for the cabinet to meet on June 27, 2007, to give the approval in retrospect.

“The government suffered loss in terms of reputation. The government, through the cabinet, was made to appear as a mere rubber stamp. We pray that the accused be called upon to enter his defence,” he said.

The prosecution closed its case on Nov 17, after having called 25 witnesses, among them several former ministers, investigating officers, former senior officers of the Transport Ministry and former Port Klang Authority general manager OC Phang.

- Bernama