Chan charged with cheating over PKFZ case

Former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy was charged in the Sessions Court here today with three counts of cheating over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

He claimed trial to the charges which come under Section 417 of the Penal Code.

Judge Azhaniz Teh Azman allowed him a bail of RM1 million with one surety and fixed March 31 for mention.

Chan is the second former minister to have been charged over the scandal after his predecessor Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik.

On July 29 last year, Dr Ling pleaded not guilty to a charge of deceiving the Malaysian government over the purchase of land in Pulau Indah involving a sum of RM1.08 billion, eight years ago.

Dr Ling, 67, is facing a principal charge and an alternative charge of deceiving the cabinet by dishonestly hiding the fact over the land purchase, at Level 4, Prime Minister's Office, Perdana Putra Building, here, between Sept 25, 2002 and Nov 6, 2002.

In its report announced in November 2009, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the PKFZ issue recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police investigate Chan and former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang for breach of trust.

The PAC said in the report that both of them should be investigated pertaining to the letter of support issued by Chan and three letters of undertaking issued by Phang allegedly without the approval of the Finance Ministry.

The PAC carried investigations into the project after the cost to implement it reportedly rose from RM1.957 billion to RM4.947 billion.

On Dec 10, 2009, Phang was charged with criminal breach of trust involving a sum of RM98.7 million at the PKA, Jalan Pelabuhan Utara, Port Klang, between Oct 1, 2004 and Sept 5, 2005.
-- Bernama