Daim Zainuddin’s wife says Malaysia targeting ex-finance minister in corruption probe because of his ‘success’
- Naimah Khalid, who was questioned by anti-corruption investigators, said Daim was already a multimillionaire before becoming a minister 40 years ago
- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission recently seized the family-owned Menara Ilham skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur
Naimah Khalid, who was questioned by anti-corruption investigators on Wednesday, said her husband, who was twice finance minister, was already widely referred to as a tycoon in the media and a multimillionaire before taking public office 40 years ago.
“His success has now been made an excuse to tarnish his reputation and paint him as a corrupt person.
“A campaign of disinformation and misperception is being spread, suggesting that just because he is wealthy, he is therefore corrupt,” she told reporters before entering the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters.
A calm-looking Naimah, clad in pink batik baju kurung (traditional attire worn by women), arrived at around 10.15am along with their two sons, who were also summoned by anti-corruption investigators.
She addressed the media briefly by reading out a statement before walking into the building.
Naimah said that her family had extended their cooperation to the MACC as required by the law, “even though we question the motive of the investigation”.
She said she had received a call on Monday night to be present the next day for questioning.
“However, I asked if it could be done on another date due to the short notice,” she said.
Lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Sohanpal, who had arrived earlier, accompanied the three.
Rajesh said afterwards that his clients were disappointed that the MACC had not informed them of the offence for which they were being investigated.
“How can you investigate someone and ask them for details when you are not even telling them what is the offence [they allegedly committed].
“The entire process is a giant fishing expedition. They [MACC] are trying to fish for information to charge Daim. That is what they are trying to do,” he alleged.
Daim and his family also took the MACC to court over its investigation.
He sought a court declaration that MACC’s actions were unlawful, unconstitutional and void, among others.
The application was filed through Messrs Tommy Thomas at the High Court registry on Wednesday.
The MACC has said that investigations carried out against Daim are based on the law and information from the leaked Pandora Papers.
It explained that as part of the investigation, a notice was issued on June 7, last year under Section 36 (1) (a) of the MACC Act 2009 which was sent to Daim.
Following the seizure of Menara Ilham, Daim hit out at the MACC investigations, claiming that it was nothing short of a political witch-hunt due to the “animus” of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
