In the first indictments over the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project fiasco, former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Datin Paduka O.C.Phang and two others were charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) and making false claims in the Sessions Court here today, according to The Sun.

The other two were Steven Abok, chief operating officer of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, the project’s turnkey contractor, and architect Bernard Tan Seng Swee of BTA Architect, the project consultant. All three pleaded not guilty.

Newsmen had parked themselves at the court since morning to wait for the trio, who were brought to the court at 1.55 pm with Phang wearing a turqoise-coloured dress while Abok and Tan wore face masks. They were not handcuffed. Phang faced three charges of CBT amounting to RM254.85 million and was granted RM350,000 bail with one surety.

Abok and Tan were jointly charged with two counts of making false claims involving a total sum of RM5.417 million. Tan is also charged together with another person still at large with 24 counts of making false claims involving a total sum of RM122.267 million.

The PKFZ became controversial after the cost to develop the massive 400-hectare integrated cargo distribution hub spiralled from RM2 billion to RM4.6 billion. Phang, a former civil servant, was the first woman to head the PKA. She helmed the authority from 2001 until last year.

A parliamentary probe by the Public Accounts Committee last month had recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and police investigate Phang and former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, who held the portfolio from 2003 to 2008, for criminal breach of trust over the scandal thoroughly.

The PAC probe also highlighted that certain procedures were carried out without the authorization of the Finance Ministry. The report said the PAC was informed by the Attorney-General that three support letters issued by Chan and three letters of undertaking issued by Phang were implicitly a form of guarantee from the government to ensure that there would be allocations for PKA to enable it to meet its obligations under the development agreement.

PKA has since filed over a billion ringgit worth of suits against Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd and BTA Architects and also sued Phang for breach of duties. Police have frozen several bank accounts of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd.

The government has also set up an 11-member special task-force headed by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan to determine misconduct and to ensure the project becomes profitable.