PUTRAJAYA, July 22 — Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng is due for another session with investigators from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) this weekend, after his almost seven-hour probe today.
His lawyer RSN Rayer told reporters that Lim had turned up for the investigation with the MACC, despite being on sick leave for two days beginning today.
“He came as a witness. Actually, he is not well today. He has a sick leave certificate for two days — today and tomorrow.
“However, since we had received a notice to come, we gave our cooperation by turning up at the MACC building,” Rayer said, before confirming that the investigation centred on the Penang state government’s controversial plan to build an undersea tunnel.
He said Lim will be returning to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Saturday, at 10am.
Lim was accompanied by Rayer and a second lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo.
Last week, state news agency Bernama reported that Seberang Jaya assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin was summoned by the MACC, believed to be in relation with the Penang undersea tunnel project investigation.
Dr Afif, who was met by members of the media before entering the premises at about 2pm, was reported as saying that he was called up in his capacity as a state executive councillor from 2013 to 2020.
MACC investigators had also turned up at the office of the Penang government on July 3, where they recorded the statements of several exco members for their investigation into the state’s undersea tunnel project.
A source confirmed that a team of MACC officers visited the state government office at the Komtar building in George Town and interviewed Deputy Chief Minister P. Ramasamy and Zairil Khir Johari, the State Exco for Flood Mitigation, Public Works and Utilities.
The MACC had also arrested former Penang Port Commission chairman Jeffrey Chew Gim Eam as part of its ongoing probe into the project.
Chew, former special officer to former chief minister Lim Guan Eng in 2012, is believed to be under investigation for alleged graft involving the undersea tunnel project that will connect the island to the mainland.
In a March 4 statement last year, the MACC confirmed that it had opened six investigative papers related to the project.
The MACC said the first investigation paper was opened in July 2017, while another five were opened in January 2018.
On July 7, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow was summoned to the MACC office in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, to give his statement on the project, Bernama reported.
