KUALA LUMPUR: Former Finance Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was charged today with soliciting a bribe from the company awarded the contract to undertake the controversial RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel project.
Lim was accused of asking for 10 per cent of profits from Datuk Zarul Zulkifli to help his company, Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd, secure the project to build the undersea tunnel.
The former Penang Chief Minister, who was accused of committing the offence in March 2011, claimed trial to the charges under Section 16 (a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
He faces a maximum 20 years' jail and a fine of up to five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
Section 16 states that any person who corruptly solicits or receives or gives any gratification for himself or for any other person as an inducement doing or forbearing to do anything in respect of any matter commits an offence.
According to the charge sheet, Lim had in March 2011, near The Gardens Hotel at Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, here, as the Penang Chief Minister, solicited a bribe from one Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli.
He is alleged to have asked for 10 per cent of the potential profits from the completed project and in return, would help Zarul be appointed to carry out the main roads and tunnels project in Penang.
Lim was represented by fellow DAP comrades Gobind Singh Deo, Ram Karpal Singh and RSN Rayer, while the prosecution was led by Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, who was assisted by deputy public prosecutor Akram Abu Gharib.
Wan Shaharuddin applied for RM2 million bail and pleaded for the court to also order Lim to surrender his passport.
He also asked the court to order Lim to report to the MACC headquarters on the first of every month, and not to contact any witness involved in the case.
"If there is any attempt to do so, his bail must be revoked immediately," he said, adding that his application to have Lim surrender his passport is to prevent any attempt to abscond.
"This offence carries a jail term of up to 20 years and there lies every possibility of one absconding," he said.
The DPP said corruption has become a cancer in the country, and serious measures need to be taken to tackle the problem. Malaysia, he said, could collapse if this is not done.
However, Gobind pleaded for lower bail and argued that there is no need for anyone to fear that his client would flee, as he had extended his full cooperation to investigators all this while.
He also pleaded for the court to allow the accused to pay part of the bail today and the rest on Monday.
Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi later fixed bail at RM1 million and ordered Lim to surrender his passport.
Among those present in court when Lim was charged were his father and DAP supremo, Lim Kit Siang; Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow; former Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong, former Transport Minister Anthony Loke and other DAP leaders.
Lim entered the courtroom at about 9.40am and immediately walked towards his father, who was seated in the public gallery. They hugged each other over the railings before other DAP leaders approached and fist-bumped their leader.
It was reported that Lim was detained by the MACC last night after he surrendered himself at the commission's headquarters in Putrajaya.
The MACC said Lim is also expected to be charged at the Penang Sessions Court this Monday and Tuesday under Section 23 of the MACC Act for other cases.
The controversial Penang undersea tunnel project was again probed by the anti-graft authority recently following fresh leads. The MACC has questioned more than a dozen people in connection with the project, including Chow and state executive councillors Jagdeep Singh Deo, Chong Eng, and Phee Boon Poh.
The MACC also visited the offices of state Public Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari and Deputy Chief Minister ll Dr P. Ramasamy at Komtar in Penang.
Lim served as Penang Chief Minister from 2008 to 2018.