DPP says indictments against Guan Eng today 'mother of all charges'

The prosecution for former finance minister Lim Guan Eng alleged corruption case today has described the indictments as "the mother of all charges".

Lead DPP Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin made the comment when met by reporters outside the courtroom. 

"We only charge when there is a 99 percent chance of conviction, the other 1 percent is an act of God," he said. 

Lim was charged at the Butterworth Sessions Court this morning for "wrongfully misappropriating" two plots of land worth RM135 million and RM73 million to two developers, Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd in 2015 and Zenith Urban Development in 2017.

The charges were read before judge Ahmad Azhari Abdul Hamid.

The former Penang chief minister pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Wan Shaharuddin said today's charges were related to the first and second charges which Lim faced in Butterworth and Kuala Lumpur last month, related to the controversial Penang undersea tunnel project.

The latest charges will be the last related to the mega infrastructure project which would link the island to Butterworth on the mainland once completed.

Of the charges, the DPP further said: "We got the body, now the tail".

"Our policy in the Attorney-General's Chambers is that we only prosecute when we have a 99 percent (chance) of (getting a) conviction. The other 1 percent is an act of God, we cannot say (we have) 100 percent chance of winning," he added.

Ten witnesses from Kuala Lumpur are expected to be called.

The judge has agreed to the prosecution's request to transfer the case to Kuala Lumpur.

Lim is represented by lawyers Gobind Singh Deo, Ramkarpal Singh, RSN Rayer and Sivanesan Achalingam.

Other than Wan Shaharuddin, the prosecution team consists of Francine Cheryl Rajendram and Selvaranjini Selvaraj.

Meanwhile, Lim said the two additional charges against him were "baseless, politically motivated, and an abuse of power by the unelected government".

He added that the charges were intended to "smear and tarnish my reputation" in the run-up to elections, whether in Sabah or nationally.

The Bagan MP reiterated that the tunnel and three-lane highway project awarded by the Penang government in 2013 to Consortium Zenith Beijing Urban Construction Group was a contract given via open tender from the State Tender Committee. The committee was headed by the Penang state secretary and had senior government officers as members.

"Even though I am not a member of the State Tender Committee, I am still charged in line with the current thinking of 'semua salah Lim Guan Eng' (it is all Lim Guan Eng's fault)," he quipped. - Mkini