Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng expressed sadness that none had been held responsible for the colossal loss of public funds involving the Port Klang Free Trade Zone.

Describing the court decision as a "sad fact", Lim said the dropping of charges by the prosecution against former Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy today shows "selective prosecution" and that "justice easily falls victim to power".   

"A legal system is only effective when it is permitted to protect citizen rights and not only the leaders," said Lim in a statement today.

"Our legal system will cease to function if we allow misuse of public funds to go unpunished instead of respecting the rule of law," he added.

Chan was acquitted of three charges from cheating former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ( left ) of the RM1.9 billion trans-shipment project between 2004 and 2006.

He faced up to five years’ jail on each count, if he had been convicted.

Chan’s predecessor, former MCA chief and ex-Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik , was also acquitted on Oct 25 last year on charges of cheating the cabinet in the same scandal.

Although Ling had signed the documents related to the case, Justice Ahmadi Asnawi had then ruled that he could not be held accountable for any mistake, misleading information, or inaccuracy in the preparation of the ministry's documents.

The judge added that the blame should be apportioned wholly and squarely upon the officers of the Transport Ministry who drafted and prepared the documents.

Lim asked if the officers involved had been charged as Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Nordin Hassan said that the charges were dropped after considering the representation by Chan's lawyers over the acquittal in Ling’s case, which the DPP did not appeal.

"No wonder Malaysia has been crowned the world champion of corruption by the Wall Street Journal and Transparency International," Lim mocked.

‘World champion of corruption’

    

Lim said Malaysia’s "exceptional performance" as the world champion of corruption is justified with RM173.84 billion (US$54.18 billion) of illicit funds outflow or dirty money siphoned out of Malaysia in 2011, ranked fourth worst in the world.

For 2011, Malaysia ranked behind giants Russia (US$191.14 billion), China (US$151.35 billion) and India (US$84.93 billion).

Lim said that in per capita terms, Malaysia is the world champion because the country's population is tens of times smaller than China, India and Russia.

 

He cited a report in the Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Report, which estimated a total of RM1.2 trillion or US$370.38 billion lost from dirty money between 2002-11 or nearly RM4,300 per Malaysian over the last 10 years.

"At the same time, no action is taken to curb the waste and inefficiency highlighted in the latest 2012 Auditor-General Report involving a shocking RM6.5 billion," Lim said.

"Until now, no one has been punished for these wrongdoings."