Daim's widow to challenge Ilham Tower seizure in court

Free Malaysia Today

2 days ago

Ilham Tower belongs to former finance minister, the late Daim Zainuddin, and his family. (Website pic)
PETALING JAYA : The widow of the late former finance minister Daim Zainuddin will challenge the seizure of Ilham Tower in court.
In a statement, Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal, who are acting on behalf of Naimah Khalid, said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) repeated seizure of the Kuala Lumpur city centre landmark was 'pure harassment'.
'This is vindictive, unlawful and a blatant abuse of power by MACC. This is contrary to the rule of law; it is the law of the jungle,' they said.
This is the anti-graft agency's second time seizing the tower on Jalan Binjai after making a similar move on Dec 21, 2023.
In a strongly worded statement, the lawyers pointed out that MACC had already seized Ilham Tower previously, raising doubts over the justification for taking the same action again.
Questioning whether MACC was 'playing musical chairs with the law', they stressed that no corruption charges have been brought against Daim despite repeated allegations and insinuations by both Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki.
'Having failed to produce any charges, they are now targeting our client with yet another seizure,' they said.
'They want to keep seizing our client's property even though there's no evidence of corruption.
'We will, on behalf of our client, challenge the seizure of Ilham Tower in court immediately.'
Azam previously said the commission was considering seizing over RM2 billion in undeclared assets linked to Daim, his family and proxies.
Eight new investigation papers were opened after receiving fresh information from foreign agencies.
On Tuesday, MACC said it had obtained a court order to freeze £132 million (RM758.2 million) worth of assets in London belonging to Naimah and her family.
The assets include two commercial buildings, five luxury residences and one bank account, Utusan Malaysia reported.
According to MACC, investigations revealed that the assets were linked to suspected offences under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
In January last year, Daim claimed trial to a charge of failing to comply with the terms of an asset declaration notice issued by MACC.
He was accused of not disclosing his ownership of 38 companies, 19 land plots in five states, six properties, two unit trust accounts and seven luxury cars. MACC said he had asked for five deadline extensions but still failed to comply.
Naimah also faces an asset declaration charge. She is accused of failing to declare her ownership in various companies, several plots of land here and in Penang, and two vehicles.
After Daim's death on Nov 13 last year, the prosecution withdrew the charges and the court granted an order discharging and acquitting him.