Trial postponed to April 9 for Guan Eng and his lead counsel Gobind Singh Deo to attend to parliamentary matters.
- Bungalow price tag RM2.5m in 2008
- Housing loan of RM2.1m
- Renovation costs over RM120k
The high-profile corruption trial of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon has been postponed to April 9.
This comes after High Court Judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail vacated the three days from Mar 28 to 30 to enable Guan Eng’s lead counsel Gobind Singh Deo to attend to parliamentary matters.
Yesterday was the second day of the corruption trial and 14 prosecution witnesses were called upon to testify.
The first witness, Lim Wern Shern, said he was approached by Guan Eng’s wife, Betty Chew, for a housing loan in 2013 when he was working as a sales manager at Citibank.
He said Guan Eng then signed the agreement in December 2013 but the process was incomplete.
Wern Shern said Chew contacted him again in June 2015 for a property loan at 25 Jalan Pinhorn sold by businesswoman Phang Li Koon to Guan Eng.
He said the loan made to Guan Eng amounted to RM2.1 million with a monthly instalment of RM16,172.39.
Teoh Poh Huat, the director of real estate company Henry Butcher Malaysia (Penang) Sdn Bhd, told the court his company had carried out a valuation of the Jalan Pinhorn property on Nov 21, 2008.
“After looking into all factors and making price comparisons of properties close to the bungalow, the reasonable market value was placed at RM2.5 million,” he said.
Contractor Chong Eng Tong, whose company was hired for the renovation works of Lim’s bungalow at 25 Jalan Pinhorn, told the court the renovation cost a total of RM121,131.03 in 2009.
Related report: Mar 26, Guan Eng Graft Trial: Day One