Kong Choy charged over PKFZ scandal

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 28 — Former transport minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy was today charged with three counts of cheating over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project at the Sessions Court here, and faces up to five years’ jail on each count.

He was charged with deceiving then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over renovation works at the PKFZ site between 2004 and 2006.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail is present as prosecutor.

Both parties have agreed for bail to be set at RM1 million.

Another former transport minister — Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik — has also been hauled up over irregularities with the shipping hub project.

The former MCA president was charged in July last year under Section 418 of the Penal Code for misleading the Cabinet in 2002, into agreeing to purchase 999.5 acres of land in Pulau Indah for the PKFZ project.

Dr Ling, 67, was alleged to have committed the offence at the Prime Minister’s Office here between September 25 and November 6, 2002.

If convicted he faces imprisonment of up to seven years. The PKFZ project was mooted during Dr Ling’s tenure as transport minister and the cost of the project, initially estimated at less than RM2 billion, more than doubled to RM4.6 billion by 2007.

The cost of the project has been further projected to swell to as much as RM12.5 billion due to interest costs from deferred payments if the trans-shipment hub fails to perform.

MORE TO COME