Former Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, his wife Betty Chew, and businesswoman Phang Li Koon will face trial for charges linked to a RM11.6 million foreign workers' hostel project in Penang. The Court of Appeal today rejected their appeal to strike out the corruption and money laundering charges, confirming the case will proceed to trial at the Penang High Court on July 3, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
Lim Guan Eng is accused of using his position as Penang Chief Minister and chairman of the Penang Development Corporation's tender board to obtain gratification related to the approval of the foreign workers' hostel project [2, 3, 4, 7, 8]. Phang Li Koon is charged with conspiring with Lim in connection with the RM11.6 million project [2, 3, 4, 7, 8]. Betty Chew faces three money laundering charges over RM372,009 allegedly received from Excel Property Management & Consultancy between 2013 and 2016 [2, 3, 4, 7, 8].
The Court of Appeal panel, chaired by Datuk Azman Abdullah with members Datuk Noorin Badaruddin and Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid, ruled that the prosecution did not violate the constitutional protection against double jeopardy. The court held that the new charges involve different factual allegations and offences than a previous case where Lim had been acquitted in 2018 over a bungalow purchase on Jalan Pinhorn, Penang [5, 6, 8].
Justice Datuk Noorin Badaruddin noted, "While there may be some overlap in investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2016, overlap of investigations does not equate to identity of offences. The constitutional prohibition is against a second trial for the same offence, not a second trial arising from the same investigation. As the present charges were neither identical in law nor fact to the earlier proceedings, the pleas of autrefois acquit and autrefois convict could not succeed." The court also rejected the appellants' arguments based on doctrines of issue estoppel and res judicata, and a statement by a former deputy public prosecutor regarding withdrawal of the bungalow case [5, 6, 8].
Lim Guan Eng was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher. Betty Chew faces money laundering charges under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act, which carries a maximum five-year prison term and fines up to RM5 million [4, 7, 8].
The case will return to the Penang High Court for trial starting July 3, 2026 [1, 8].
