Dr M, Pak Lah, Najib to be called by Liong Sik defence

By Melissa Chi

November 17, 2011

(Left to right) Najib, Dr Mahathir, and Abdullah raise their hands at the end of Umno annual assembly in Kuala Lumpur March 28, 2009. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be among the witnesses called to testify in the cheating trial of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, the High Court heard today.

Defence lawyer Wong Kian Kheong today read out the names of 12 members of the Cabinet from 2002 and the special economic adviser to the prime minister at the time, as among the witnesses he intends to examine.

Dr Ling was charged in July last year with knowingly deceiving the Cabinet into approving the land purchase for the PKFZ, which resulted in wrongful losses for the government.

The former MCA president also faces two alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the purchase at RM25 psf and the 7.5 per cent interest rate were acknowledged and agreed to by the government’s Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) despite knowing that there was no such agreement.

Dr Ling faces up to seven years’ jail and a fine if convicted of the principal charge under Section 418 of the Penal Code.

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