“I have always known Boon Poh in the past three decades as a hard-working down-to-earth political leader, who has always kept himself close to the pulse of the people,” the Gelang Patah MP said.
“If Boon Poh is corrupt, produce the evidence and by all means arrest and charge him.
“But I do not believe that Boon Poh belongs to the breed of corrupt political leaders who corruptly enriches himself from politics,” Lim, who is DAP parliamentary leader, said in a statement after visiting the Penang High Court today.
He said the MACC had not been able to find “one sen of ill-gotten cash or other valuables” despite taking Phee along to a number of its raids.
He added that if the two letters reportedly found in Phee’s office asking a local government authority to reconsider action against an illegal factory amounted to corruption, other government leaders could be implicated as well.
“I dare say that there will be no state excos, menteri-menteri besar, federal ministers, the deputy prime minister and the prime minister left, for I have no doubt all of them would have produced sheaves of letters recommending to various authorities for reconsideration over the years,” he said.
Lim also claimed that while the MACC had taken action on Phee it had dared not investigate the 1MDB scandal, which he called “among the largest cases of corruption and kleptocracy in the world.”
The High Court today set aside the five-day remand orders against Phee and two other men – a father and his son who are owners of the factory in Sungai Lembu near Bukit Mertajam.
High Court judicial commissioner (JC) Abdul Wahab Mohamed found the remand order to have contravened Section 117 (5) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Phee’s lawyers, Ramkarpal Singh and RSN Rayer, had argued that they were not given a chance by the senior assistant registrar of the Magistrate’s Court who issued the remand order on Saturday, to air their submissions.
The MACC today said it would file an appeal on the High Court decision which it said had impeded investigations on the involvement of Phee and the other two men in the illegal factory.
On Friday, Phee, who is DAP assemblyman for Sungai Puyu, was arrested after the MACC raided his office on the 53rd floor of Komtar.
His house in Butterworth and the Seberang Perai Municipal Council’s (MPSP) licensing department were also raided later. His service centre in Butterworth was searched yesterday.
The MACC had also led a multi-agency sting on the carbon filter processing factory which was found to have allegedly flouted several federal regulations.
The Department of Environment found the factory did not have a proper air pollution control system. The factory was also allegedly operating illegally on agricultural land.
The Immigration Department and Inland Revenue Board also participated in the operation.