‘Lim bought bungalow at below market price’
GEORGE TOWN: A witness told the High Court here yesterday that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had bought a luxury bungalow at below market price.
Facebook account holder Mohsin Abdul Latif, 34, who is the first prosecution witness, in the corruption trial involving Lim and businesswoman Phang Li Koon, maintained that Lim bought the house at an unreasonable price.
He maintained the price was not right even when pushed by lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, who represented Lim.
“I lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission ( MACC) on March 18, 2016 for investigation to be carried out.
“The bungalow house at Jalan Pinhorn was priced at RM2.5 million and a few years later sold for RM2.8 million. In my opinion, the price is not right,’ he said in the trial held before judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail.
Cross- examined by Gobind Singh whether he agreed that the price of the house bought by Lim was reasonable, Mohsin said he did not agree.
Prior to that, Mohsin told the court that he knew about the purchase of the house at below market price through a debate in Parliament between Lim and Tasek Gelugor Member of Parliament Datuk Shabudin Yahaya, in a news aired by TV3.
“It prompted me to lodge a report at the MACC office in Penang because of my love and respect for the state leadership and did not want him to be involved with corruption,” he said.
During re- examination by the prosecution, conducted by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Masri Mohd Daud what he meant by corruption, Mohsin said Lim bought the house at No 25 Jalan Pinhorn at below the market value.
Masri: How do you know the price of the house is low?
Mohsin: Through a debate in Parliament and news on TV3
Masri: Is there anyone who asked or pressured you to lodge the report with MACC?
Mohsin: I went voluntarily
A total of six witnesses was called to testify through their witness statements which were then produced in the court.
The witnesses included Assistant Registration Officer Nadia Kamis@ Khamis; an officer at the Seberang Perai Tengah Land and District Office, Rosmin Yaakob; Principal Assistant Secretary at the Penang State Secretary’s office, Mohd Roshidi Azmi and Information Technology Assistant Officer Mohamad Farid Mokhtar,
Others are a government retiree, Siti Asma’ Mohd Salleh and Mohd Farullizam Che Meh, also a principal assistant secretary at the Penang State Secretary’s Office.
However, they were not crossexamined by the counsel.
On the first amended charge, Lim was charged with using his position as a public officer, namely, Chief Minister of Penang, to gain gratification for himself and his wife, Betty Chew Gek Cheng, by approving the application for conversion of agriculture land to a public housing zone in southwest Penang to a company, Magnificient Emblem Sdn Bhd.
Lim, 58, was charged with committing the offence while chairing the Penang State Planning Committee meeting at the operations room, Level 28, Komtar building here, on July 18, 2014.
The charge under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission ( MACC) Act 2009 provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the sum or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
On the second amended charge, Lim was charged with using his position to obtain for himself a plot of land and a bungalow, located at No 25, Jalan Pinhorn, George Town, from Phang for RM2.8 million, a price which he allegedly knew did not commensurate with the property’s then market value of RM4.27 million.
The offence was allegedly committed at No 25 Jalan Pinhorn, George Town here on Oct 21, 2015.
The charge was framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which provides an imprisonment for up to two years, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Phang also pleaded not guilty to an amended charge with abetting Lim in obtaining the bungalow at an undervalued cost at the same place and date.
She was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 165 of the same law, which provides an imprisonment for up to two years, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
The hearing continues. — Bernama