Guan Eng, businesswoman ordered to stand trial for graft charges

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today ordered former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon to stand trial in a corruption case involving the construction of a foreign workers’ hostel.

A three-member Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Azman Abdullah rejected their bid to overturn the Penang High Court’s decision not to strike out the charges.

Lim claimed trial in August 2020 to an abuse of power charge for allegedly ensuring that a company linked to Phang obtained approval to build a dormitory for foreign workers worth RM11.6 million. Phang is accused of abetting Lim in committing the offence.

Justice Noorin Baharuddin, who read out the court’s decision, said the current graft case was not similar in fact or law to an earlier case involving Lim’s purchase of a bungalow, purportedly below market value, about 10 years ago.

Lim and Phang were acquitted after the prosecution withdrew those charges in 2018.

“This current case involving a hostel project concerns different acts of gratification and different elements that the prosecution has to prove.

“They are neither identical in law nor in fact, and we do not agree that these current charges constitute a form of double jeopardy against the accused persons,” Noorin said.

The third judge on the panel was Justice Radzi Abdul Hamid.

PP should exercise caution in bringing charges in tranches, court says

Noorin also commented on the manner in which graft charges were brought against Lim and Phang, from the 2016 bungalow purchase case to the 2020 foreign workers’ hostel case.

She noted that in the bungalow case, a total of 25 witnesses testified before the prosecution withdrew the charges.

“However, upon ‘further investigation’, they had to face another set of fresh charges, leading them to perceive it as unfair and oppressive,” she said.

She also cautioned the public prosecutor to exercise prosecutorial discretion prudently when bringing charges against accused persons.

“The fragmentation of prosecutions should be approached carefully (or it will) create a perception by the accused persons that they are subjected to the ‘same’ set of charges,” she said.