COMMENT | In late 2009, lawyers Lim Chee Wee and the late Vinayak Pradhan accompanied by the then chairperson of the Port Klang Authority, Lee Hwa Beng briefed the then prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) debacle.

Referring to the voluminous report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which was commissioned to prepare an investigative report and briefing notes, they presented the situation – a rather bleak one – and identified the events and the personalities involved behind what would eventually cost the government RM12.4 billion.

Lim recalls that Najib knew his facts and informed the trio that if anyone tried to intimidate or threaten them, he should be told about it.

The next thing Najib did was to announce the setting up of an 11-member “super” task force...