Malaysia’s former finance minister arrested on graft charges over China-linked tunnel project
- Lim Guan Eng will appear in court on Friday to face corruption charges over the US$1.5 billion undersea tunnel project in Penang
- He signed the deal during his 2008–2018 tenure as the state’s chief minister
In a brief statement, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said Lim faced three separate arraignments on Friday, Monday and Tuesday for charges under the country’s anti-corruption law.
His car was seen entering the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in the administrative capital of Putrajaya late in the evening. Lim has in recent weeks been aiding investigations by the MACC over the tunnel project in the state of Penang.
The deal, signed during Lim’s 2008–2018 tenure as Penang’s chief minister, involves a land swap of reclaimed prime land to finance the construction of highways, a metro link and an undersea tunnel connecting Penang island to mainland peninsula Malaysia. The reclamation project is already under way.
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The project was awarded via an open tender in 2013 to a consortium comprising the Malaysian firm Zenith Construction and China’s state-backed Beijing Urban Construction Group. Later, the Malaysian firm bought out the Chinese firm’s stake in the consortium.