Penang police today said that investigators found no foul play in the death of a prominent developer who fell from his luxury condominium unit yesterday. — Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri
GEORGE TOWN, Oct 6 — Penang police today said that investigators found no foul play in the death of a prominent developer who fell from his luxury condominium unit yesterday.
State deputy police chief Datuk Fisol Salleh said police investigations have revealed that the 53-year-old had died from the fatal fall without any criminal elements involved.
“We have classified the case as sudden death report (SDR) and the post mortem report has confirmed that the cause of death was multiple injuries due to fall from height,” he said in a press conference at the Penang police headquarters here this evening.
He said there were speculations over the man’s death, so he had to call a press conference to “clear the air” on the case.
“We are confident that this is a SDR case with no elements of foul play so I would like to advise the public to stop speculating pertaining to this case,” he said.
He added that no traces of alcohol or drugs were found in his blood, according to the post mortem report.
“We have also checked the CCTV recordings at the site of the incident and it did show any suspicious persons entering the condominium at the time of the incident,” he said.
Fisol said the deceased did not leave behind a note and did not have a history of depression or any mental illness.
When asked for the identity of the deceased, Fisol said the name was already widely reported yesterday.
“All of you already know who he is, it was all over the news, I cannot release his name because we have to protect the sensitivities of the family in this case and we have to keep to our ethics,” he said.
He refused to confirm the identity of the deceased.
It was widely reported yesterday that the deceased was Ewein Berhad founder and executive chairman Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng.
In the course of investigating the case, Fisol said his wife revealed that the deceased informed her that he was called in for investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“We have also recorded statements from his two children, a 21-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter, who are also living with him in that condominium,” he said.
He said family members said the deceased did not behave any differently before the incident.
“The wife said he had behaved normally and did not act out of normal,” he said.
The police received a call on the incident at a luxury condominium in Pulau Tikus at about 5.20am on October 5.
Fisol said the body of the deceased was found inside the swimming pool of the condominium along Jalan Kelawei.
“The police officers and personnel from the hospital confirmed he had died at the scene of the incident,” he said.
He said the deceased had fallen from the balcony of his unit at level 16 of the condominium.
“We are positive that this will remain classified as a SDR case but investigations on this will still continue as it has only been one day since it happened,” he said when asked if the police has wrapped up investigations into the case.
It was also reported that Ewe was to be one of the prosecution witnesses in an ongoing RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel corruption trial involving former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng.