Daim might have more undeclared assets, could be recalled for questioning

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) might summon former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin again for questioning on suspicion of more undeclared assets.

Malaysiakini reported MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki as saying that investigators recently received information about Daim’s alleged assets and are now in the midst of verifying it.

“Investigation (against Daim) is still ongoing.

“There is a lot of verification work we need to do on his alleged undeclared assets.

“We also received information that there are other assets that he did not declare. So we are now trying to verify this information,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal.

Azam asked that his investigating officers be given time as they need to work with relevant agencies and foreign authorities.

“At this stage, we are yet to summon him (for further questioning). Let the investigating officers compile more information on the assets first.

“If the investigators manage to find more, I expect that they will call him,” he said.

While Azam declined to disclose the undeclared assets, a source close to the investigation told Malaysiakini that the assets include more properties, shares and bank accounts both in Malaysia and abroad.

On Tuesday, Azam said the MACC has not set a time frame as to when it will complete its investigation into Daim.

He said the big challenge is seeking the cooperation of agencies from other countries such as the Cayman Islands to secure evidence.

Azam said the investigations into the allegations also involved other Malaysian institutions, such as Bank Negara.

On January 29, Daim was charged in the Sessions Court with failing to declare his assets to the MACC. He pled not guilty.

The MACC began investigating the 86-year-old last year, attributing it to information obtained from the Pandora Papers that was first leaked and exposed in 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that identified Daim as among several high profile Malaysians with links to offshore tax havens preferred by the rich and powerful.

Several other information leaks since then have linked Daim and his family to offshore business entities and trusts worth at least £25 million (about RM141 million).

Daim’s sons, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin Daim and Muhammed Amin Zainuddin Daim, were reportedly named owners of a British Virgin Islands firm Newton Invest & Finance Limited in 2007 when they were nine and 12 respectively.

By 2017, when the brothers were in their early 20s, they were owners of several offshore firms set up in tax havens, including Splendid International Ltd (BVI) which held London properties worth £12 million (about RM65 million at 2017 exchange rates).

Besides the two BVI firms, the brothers and their mother are also shareholders in several other offshore companies which hold properties in London.

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