Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) chief executive officer Faizal Abdullah does not want to testify in the cheating trial of former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur was told today.

"I was told by Faizal's lawyer this afternoon that his client has instructed him to set aside (any) subpoena," Ling’s counsel Wong Kian Kheong said, adding that the defence has yet to serve the fresh subpoena that was issued in Faizal’s name yesterday.

NONE Wong ( left ) said Faizal's lawyer also informed him by phone and in writing that his client would set aside all subpoenas served on him.

This makes Faizal the third witness expressing his intention not to testify in court, with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi having done so.

The defence team told the court that both Najib and Abdullah had orally expressed their wish  to set aside any subpoena to them.

Once described as being cooperative as he was interviewed by the defence on four occasions, Faizal last Monday refused to testify because the validity of the subpoena issued had expired.

"The trial cannot resume tomorrow. We seek a postponement to another appropriate date," Wong said, explaining that the defence had run out of witnesses who could immediately be called.

It had yesterday applied for fresh subpoenas to be issued for Faisal, Najib, Abdullah and Ali Abu Hassan, a former adviser to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to appear as witnesses for the defence in Ling’s cheating case over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) land purchase.

Trial to resume on June 19

Justice Ahmadi Asnawi then fixed for the hearing to resume on June 19.

 

Earlier today, Singapore-based chartered accountant Sajjad Ahmad Akhtar, who was summoned as an independent expert witness, said the RM1.08 billion valuation for the PKFZ land was not inclusive of additional interest, as stated in the charge sheet.

"The price of RM25 per square feet (psf) cannot and does not include a 7.5 percent  coupon or interest charge," said Sajjad, the sixth witness for the defence.

NONE The charge sheet states that Ling ( right ) had concealed from the cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5 percent a year, on top of the land price valued at RM25psf, or RM1.08 billion, and that he was aware that the RM25psf stated in the official valuation letter included interest.

The  former director-general of the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), Sahari Mahadi, had previously testified that the land price included the additional interest.

However, Sajjad demonstrated to Justice Ahmadi, using the discounted cash flow (DCF) method, how the RM13.02psf nett present value (NPV), with interest, could be arrived at.

The content of the sale and purchase agreement, signed in November 2002 between the Port Klang Authority and then landowner KDSB, was consistent with the official valuation letter issued in September 2000, he said.

The valuation letter states that 995 acres of PKFZ land could be priced at RM25psf with bonds issued and a 10-year repayment period, and a special price fixed at RM21.

‘Interest would have gone up’

Sajjad said he shared the view of then JPPH deputy director-general Mani Usilappan, who had said the RM21 special price is fixed while the land price varies when different terms of repayment are applied.

NONE When the terms of repayment were increased from 10 years to 15 years, explained Sajjad ( right ), the original six percent interest charge would have had to go up to 7.5 percent in order to arrive at the NPV of  RM21psf.

"Is this is a reconstruction of Mani Usilappan's work?" asked another lawyer representing Ling, Yeoh Choo Kheong.

"Absolutely...  I've done an independent analysis, using the DCF method and came up with RM20.97psf," said Sajjad, who has close to 40 years of experience in the field.

He further said that his analysis was identical to the RM21psf special price stated in the valuation letter of September 2000.

Sajjad is the second expert witness, after chartered accountant Mok Chew Yin, called by Ling's legal team.