Lim Guan Eng, wife and Phang fail in bid to quash charges

PUTRAJAYA - The corruption and money laundering case against former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, his wife Betty Chew, and businesswoman Phang Li Koon involving a foreign workers' hostel project worth RM11.6 million will proceed to trial at the Penang High Court.

This was after a three-member bench, led by Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah, who sat with judges Datuk Noorin Badaruddin and Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid, dismissed the application filed by Lim, Chew and Phang to strike out the charges.

On May 3, 2024, the Penang High Court dismissed their application to strike out the charges, stating that the doctrine of autrefois acquit, or the rule against double jeopardy, argued by the defence did not apply as it did not meet the requirement.

On May 26, 2023, Lim, Chew and Phang filed an application to strike out the corruption and money laundering charges on the grounds that the prosecution had used evidence from a previous case involving Lim's purchase of a bungalow on Jalan Pinhorn, even though he was acquitted and discharged in 2018.

According to the charges, Lim, as a public officer holding the position of Penang chief minister and chairman of the Penang Development Corporation tender board, was alleged to have used his position to receive a bribe of RM372,009 for his wife through Excel Property Management & Consultancy Sdn Bhd.

He is accused of committing the offence by acting to ensure Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd was awarded the Invitation to Propose a Workers' Settlement on Lot 631, Mukim 13, Juru, Seberang Perai Tengah and part of Lot 282, Mukim 13, Batu Kawan, Seberang Perai Selatan in Penang, valued at RM11,610,000, in which Chew had an indirect interest.

Lim, who is Bagan MP, allegedly committed the offence between Aug 19, 2013, and March 3, 2016, at the Chief Minister's Office, Level 28, Komtar in George Town, Penang.

The charge is framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Phang, on the other hand, was charged with allegedly conspiring to commit the offence with Lim at the same place and date.

Chew is facing three money laundering charges for allegedly receiving RM372,009 from Excel Property Management & Consultancy Sdn Bhd, which was credited into her Public Bank Berhad account.

She is accused of committing the offences between Oct 7, 2013 and Aug 4, 2014; between Sept 3, 2014 and Aug 11, 2015; and between Sept 4, 2015 and March 3, 2016, at Public Bank Berhad, Taman Melaka Raya Branch, Melaka.

The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001, which is punishable by a fine not exceeding RM5 million or imprisonment of up to five years, or both, upon conviction.

Justice Noorin, when delivering the court's decision today, said that the charges in the present case were distinct in law and fact from those in the bungalow case, as they involved different factual allegations, transactions and alleged acts of gratification.

"While there may be some overlap in the surrounding investigations conducted by the MACC in 2016, overlap of investigations does not equate to identity of offences. The constitutional prohibition is directed against a second trial of the same offence, not against a second trial arising from the same investigation," she said. - BERNAMA

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