Tuesday January 22, 2013

DPP is running away from the truth, says Ling

By M. MAGESWARI
mages@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik is upset and angry that his trial over cheating charges in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project has been delayed for the second time by the prosecution claiming that it needed more time to consider the defence's representations.

Saying that the prosecution had wrongly charged him, Dr Ling, 70, said this had “dragged on for more than two-and-a-half years.”

“It has caused me stress, money, time and so many other unnecessary grievances. I am very upset and angry because the DPP (deputy public prosecutor) is running away from the truth. He is afraid to face the truth,” he said at the Jalan Duta Court complex here yesterday.

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, added Dr Ling, had given evidence that he neither cheated him nor the Cabinet over the PKFZ land.

“Dr Mahathir was the prime minister then and the chairman of Cabinet meetings. He testified that I did not cheat him. Nobody in the Cabinet had complained to him that they were cheated by me. It was a unanimous and collective decision.

“Our expert also gave evidence that whatever we did complied with the Valuation and Property Services Department's (JPPH) directive. There was no loss,” he said.

“They have wrongly charged an innocent man and now they are scared of it,” he said after the trial was postponed to Feb 18.

Dr Ling's defence sent a representation on Oct 19 last year to the Attorney-General's Chambers to reconsider the charges following Dr Mahathir's evidence and that of BDO Chartered Accountants executive director Mok Chew Yin.

A second representation was also sent on Nov 21 on Dr Ling's health as well as the calculation of discounted cash flow, which was the argument used in the purchase of land.

Earlier, lead prosecutor Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah told trial judge Ahmadi Asnawi that the prosecution needed time to study the first representation fairly, adding that it was willing to adjourn Dr Mahathir's questioning to accommodate the defence's application. He said he had also written a letter dated Jan 14 to the defence on the matter, adding that it was possible to obtain feedback by the end of March or April.

However, Dr Ling's lead counsel Wong Kian Kheong said he had sent a letter dated Jan 15 to object to the trial's postponement and expressed his concern that Dr Mahathir was already in court to give evidence.

The defence, he said, had also wished to call former senior Cabinet minister Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik, who was offered by the prosecution as a witness, but he had died last month.

Wong offered to withdraw the second representation should this be an obstacle to making a decision over their application.

Tun Abdul Majid said he would still need to discuss with the A-G as Dr Ling's health condition had been put forward in the defence's representation. Justice Ahmadi then set Feb 18 for continuation of the trial.

Dr Ling is alleged to have deceived the Government by not revealing to the Cabinet an additional interest rate of 7.5% annually in the RM1.088bil (at RM25psf) purchase of the land for the PKFZ project at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya between Sept 25, 2002, and Nov 6, 2002. He also claimed trial to two alternative charges of cheating, which carry a lesser penalty.

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Tuesday January 22, 2013

DPP is running away from the truth, says Ling

By M. MAGESWARI mages@thestar.com.my

By M. MAGESWARI
mages@thestar.com.my