Daim Zainuddin, an ally of former PM Mahathir Mohamad, has described the investigation as a ‘political witch-hunt’.
Malaysia’s anticorruption company has stated it was investigating Daim Zainuddin, a former finance minister and key ally of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, underneath the nation’s abuse of energy and cash laundering legal guidelines.
In an announcement issued on Saturday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Fee (MACC) confirmed media stories this month that it had seized Ilham Tower, a 60-storey constructing in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, as a part of its investigation into Daim.
Daim, 85, stated in an announcement on Thursday that he denied all wrongdoing and stated he was not knowledgeable what offence he had allegedly dedicated regardless of repeated queries to the MACC.
He additionally described the probe in opposition to him as a “political witch-hunt” pushed by the anticorruption company and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who got here to energy final 12 months, has promised to weed out high-level corruption. In March this 12 months, he promised to deal with corruption “with out concern or favour“. However he has additionally confronted accusations by some critics of focusing on political rivals.
The MACC asserted that it had acted independently in line with the regulation and that it had opened investigations in opposition to Daim in February primarily based on data contained within the Pandora Papers – an enormous leak of economic information in 2021 which revealed offshore belongings held by politicians and public figures worldwide.
In it, Daim, his associates and relations had been reported to have held belongings value at the very least 25 million kilos ($31.82m).
The MACC stated it had requested Daim to declare his belongings in June and granted 5 extensions to the previous minister to take action – the newest on November 14.
It added that “he has every opportunity to clear his name if the case is brought to the court of law”.
Daim held the finance portfolio twice: between 1984 and 1991, when he was succeeded by Anwar; and from 1999 to 2001 after Anwar was sacked by then-PM Mahathir for alleged corruption and sodomy.
Although retired from energetic politics, Daim stays an influential determine.
In 2018, when Mahathir got here out of retirement and returned as prime minister, he appointed Daim to guide a authorities advisory council tasked with scrutinising every little thing from authorities insurance policies to the administration of state-linked corporations.
Daim additionally led talks to renegotiate a number of offers with China, together with the East Coast Rail Hyperlink undertaking, a part of Beijing’s Belt and Highway Initiative.