The Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has suspended the state award which carries the title "Datuk" conferred on former transport minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy in view of the court case facing him in connection with the Port Klang Free Zone scandal.
Selangor State Secretary Datuk Mohammad Khusrin Munawi said the sultan made the decision after taking into consideration that the charges against Chan were serious as it involved the interest of the people and country.
He said that the award conferred on Chan would be reviewed should the court free him of the charges.
On Feb 28, Chan pleaded not guilty to three counts of cheating over the PKFZ project.
Chan, 55, is charged with cheating former prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi in the controversial PKFZ project between 2004 and 2006. He was alleged to have:
-between Feb 24 and Feb 25, 2004, deceived Abdullah into approving renovation works to be carried out by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) as the turnkey developer of PKFZ, which was previously called as Pulau Indah Free Zone;
-t; between Oct 11 and Oct 28, 2005, deceived Abdullah into approving KDSB as the turnkey developer to carry out three additional development works amounting to RM518.38 million;
-between March 28 and March 29, 2006, deceived Abdullah into approving KDSB as the turnkey developer to carry out five additional development works amounting to RM335.8 million.
Mohammad Khusrin said the Sultan of Selangor also ordered that the same title given to former Ekran Berhad executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Ting Pek Khiing, be revoked, effective March 24 after the Malaysian Insolvency Department, on Oct 29 last year, declared him a bankrupt.
"The decision to revoke Ting's award was made after taking into consideration that the title was inappropriate for a person who has been declared a bankrupt," the statement said.
The Datuk Paduka Mahkota Selangor which carries the title Datuk was conferred on Chan and Ting in 2003 and 1996 respectively.
