SIX criminal prosecutions in eight years over the scandal-ridden Port Klang Free Zone project with nothing to show for it is difficult enough to fathom. But to add insult to injury, on Jan 13, the Federal Court threw out the prosecution’s bid to seize RM37.8 million worth of cash and properties involving the purported ill-gotten gains from the cost overruns that caused the PKFZ’s development cost to hit RM7.86 billion from an initial estimate of RM2 billion.
The apex court dismissed the prosecution’s appeal on the grounds that it had failed to relate how the purported breaches of the law led to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) the owner and main contractor of the project and its then CEO and Member of Parliament for Bintulu Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing acquiring the properties and cash.
13 Jan 2021 / 15:08 H. Pix for illustration purposes.
PUTRAJAYA: The prosecution failed in its appeal in the Federal Court to forfeit monies and properties valued at more than RM37 million from Bintulu Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and eight other respondents in relation to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.
A three-member bench comprising Federal Court judges Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim dismissed the prosecution’s appeal.
The court’s verdict was delivered by Justice Hasnah, who said that after reading the affidavit in its entirety, the Federal Court agreed with the Court of Appeal that the prosecution failed to identify the nature and extent of participation of the respondents in money laundering activities to procure the properties.