KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah Water Department deputy director Teo Chee Kong is now a free man after the Special Corruption Court pronounced his 146 charges discharged and acquitted.

       Teo, who was earlier last month given a Discharge Not Amounting to an Acquittal (DNAA), was on Thursday (March 17) warranted to Discharged and Acquitted (D&A).

       Judge Abu Bakar Manat made the decision during mention to update the status of Teo's case.

       The 57-year-old now just wishes to return to his life prior to these cases.

       "I wish to lead my normal life with my family who were very much affected, after five years and six months of ordeal and stress," he said after the verdict.

       Teo, who was first charged in December, 2017, was facing a total of 146 money laundering charges involving RM32.93mil.

       Earlier, Abu Bakar said this decision was based on the new development of the case and the confirmation given by the prosecution that they would no longer wish to prosecute and that there were no further or pending investigations against the accused.

       He said since there was no objection from the prosecution that the status of DNAA given by the court on Feb 18 to be warrant as D&A, the court therefore pronounced that the DNAA ordered on Feb 18 given earlier be Warrant to Discharged and Acquitted.

       "As such the accused, Teo Chee Kong was now ordered by this court Discharged and Acquitted from all 146 charges," said Abu Bakar.

       Teo was on Feb 18, given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) from all 146 counts of money laundering from illegal activities amounting to RM32.9mil but the MACC later slapped him with an RM30mil compound.

       Teo had settled the RM30mil compound within the stipulated period.

       Earlier, lead defense counsel Ram Singh, representing Teo, told the court that they filed a letter on Wednesday (March 16) requesting for a Thursday mention to update the status of Teo's case.

       Ram said they received a letter from the prosecution dated March 10, which stated that the prosecution does not intend to prosecute further the same charges and all the charges against Teo.

       The letter stated that all the charges against Teo were discontinued and that no further action be taken in relation to the 146 charges against him.

       The court was also told that the Forfeiture of Property (FOP) in relation to lands belonging to Teo and also bank accounts belonging to Teo and his son and all other restrictions pertaining to the properties and assets overseas to be revoked and released to Teo and family members.

       Apart from Teo, the cases against three others were still ongoing but all were under bail.

       They were former Sabah Water Department director Awang Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib, 59, his wife Fauziah Piut, 56, and state Finance Ministry advisor and retired deputy director of the department Lim Lam Beng, 67.

       They were slapped with separate charges at a Sessions Court for money laundering involving RM61.5mil on Dec 29, 2016.

       The sensational corruption case came to light after raids were made at the office and home of the director and his deputy on Oct 22, 2016.

       Shocked investigators allegedly found RM45mil in cash in the director’s house and some RM3mil at the office of the other.

       There were also jewellery, designer handbags and other possessions seized from these raids.

       It was reported earlier in the probe that graftbusters believed that the suspects were siphoning RM3.3bil funds meant for water projects in Sabah since 2010 through a network of companies linked to their families.

       The MACC recorded the statements of 200 witnesses in their probe where they have seized or frozen some RM114.5mil of cash, bank accounts, unit trusts and other assets within and outside the country.