Taikun ‘berani’ bayar RM27 juta untuk tanah belum dimiliki, kata pegawai SPRM

Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) has accused a wealthy landowner, Ewe Swee Kheng, of brazenly paying RM27 million to a businessman, Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli, in order to secure ownership of government-owned land before obtaining any official confirmation. The allegation comes from Zulhilmi Halim, a SPRM officer investigating the Pulau Pinang deep water channel project.

According to Zulhilmi, the deal involved Lim Guan Eng, the former state chief minister, promising Lim Guan Eng a 10% profit share from the project, in addition to receiving RM3.3 million in bribes from Zarul. Lim is also facing charges for fraudulently transferring land worth RM208.7 million belonging to the state government.

The SPRM investigation, which began in 2018, was initially deemed non-prosecutable due to insufficient evidence. However, when Zulhilmi took over the case in 2020, she focused on the financial statements and payments made from Ewe's company to Zarul's firm. Her findings revealed that Zarul had no intentions of building the deep water channel or the three planned highways. Instead, he was the one who initiated the steps and informed the ex-co about a company eager to build the deep water channel.