Ewe Swee Keng, Prosecution Witness in Penang Tunnel Case, Found Dead on Ground Floor of Condo

By Quinny Tan  •  06 Oct 2021 in News

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Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng, a developer who is suspected to be a key prosecution witness in the Penang undersea tunnel graft case, fell 17 storeys to his death at Pulau Tikus yesterday.

Sources reported that his body fell from a luxury apartment at 2am and landed in a swimming pool. Northeast district police chief Soffian Santong said they received an emergency call at 5am and discovered the body in Palazzo Condominium.

The victim, who was the president and group managing director at Ewein Bhd., was expected to testify on November 29 and 30 at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court as a prosecution witness in Lim Guan Eng’s graft trial.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said that Ewe had offered to be a prosecution witness to help the anti-graft body and clear the controversies surrounding him.

“He was not the main witness. He was the 15th out of 120 prosecution witnesses. He offered himself from the beginning, because he refused to be associated with the controversial case.”

Ewe was last seen by the MACC representative a month ago in Penang to complete his witness statement.

“He looked happy at the time and expressed his eagerness to testify in court. I was a little upset when I heard the news of his death.”

To summarise, the Penang Undersea Tunnel is a tunnel has been under construction since 2016 between Butterworth on the mainland and George Town on the island of Penang in northern Malaysia.

Multiple controversies were uncovered, including bribery and leaked documents that alleged the former chief minister Lim Guan Eng and various Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional leaders in kickbacks amounting to hundreds of millions.

In the trial, Lim is facing four charges of soliciting bribes and abuse of power in relation to the construction of the undersea tunnel and paired roads worth RM6.3 billion.

Police have stated that they are still investigating the case of Ewe’s incident. The body has been sent to the mortuary of the Penang General hospital for an autopsy.

His peers described Ewe as a visionary developer and his loss has saddened many. Currently, the public is still waiting on the police report to find out what truly happened.