“IN THE CASE OF PKFZ, EVERYONE INVOLVED IS A BIG FISH BECAUSE WE ARE LOOKING AT CHARGES THAT ARE AMOUNTING TO SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLIONS OF RINGGIT,”

PKFZ: More people to be charged Monday, says AG (Update)

PUTRAJAYA: More people, including a Kuala Dimensi engineer, are expected to be charged in court on Monday over the Port Klang Free Trade Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

“The PKFZ fiasco is far from over. The investigations are still going on,” Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail told newsmen here Thursday.

He said the fact that three individuals - Datin Paduka OC Phang, Bernard Tan Seng Swee and Stephen Abok - had been charged Thursday did not mean that the “book on PKFZ is closed.”

“I want to make it clear that this is certainly not the end of the matter but just the beginning. I do not want any misperception on this. What we have completed (investigating) we proceed (by taking the case to court).

“But we have not completed everything yet. Investigations are still ongoing on other offences involving PKFZ.

“There are still other issues and transactions involved in this case that we are investigating and the likelihood of (others) going to court is real,” the AG told reporters Thursday.

Also present at the press conference were Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and his deputy Tan Sri Ismail Omar, MACC deputy commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed and head of the AG Chamber’s prosecution division Datuk Tun Majid Tun Hamzah Gani announced that a fourth person involved in the PKFZ scandal - Law Jenn Dong would be charged on Monday.

“We were unable to get him on Wednesday and yesterday (Thursday) but I have been indicated that he (Law) will surrender himself on Monday and we will bring him to court to be charged,” he said.

The AG said that other offences under PKFZ that were being investigated include commercial crime, money laundering, corruption and abuse of power, adding authorities were looking for individuals who had committed “conspiracy and abetment”.

“In the case of PKFZ, everyone involved is a big fish because we are looking at charges that are amounting to several hundred millions of ringgit,” he said.

Gani also expressed disappointment by the low amount of bail that was set by the Klang Sessions Court on the three accused but stressed that this was the court’s discretion.

“I am not going to question the court’s decision but if you ask me personally and I think I can say this for those working so hard on the case that I am very disappointed. But that is personal,” he said.

(The court had set bail of RM350,000 for Phang who is the former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager, RM200,000 bail for Stephen who is Kuala Dimensi Chief Operations Officer and RM250,000 bail for Tan of BTA Architect.)

Gani said it took MACC and the police four months to build a case against the trio and thanked everyone involved for their diligence, hard work, good co-ordination and ability to work together.

“I thank the police, the MACC and my colleague for doing a good job and for carrying out their duty objectively. I see better days in the future,” he said.