Daim: Bring on the charges

PUTRAJAYA: Tun Daim Zainuddin (pic), who is expected to face two charges on Monday, said that he is ready to have his day in court.

The former finance minister said his lawyers had been informed that he would be facing the charges.

“So be it. I look forward to my day in court,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The 84-year-old said that graft investigators had recorded a statement from him on Friday.

“My lawyers have since been informed that I will be charged on Monday.

“It is for an offence under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act pertaining to the disclosure of assets,” he said.

Meanwhile, MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed that Daim would be brought to court to face charges.

“There will be two charges (for failure to declare assets),” he said when contacted.

On Jan 24, the MACC said that it had been given the go-ahead to charge Daim but could not execute it just yet as he was in hospital.

It was reported that Daim was hospitalised for about two weeks and was discharged on Thursday.

Azam said the agency had wanted to bring Daim’s case to court since last week after getting consent from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

While the agency insisted that Daim’s lawyers were informed of the intention, his wife, Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid claimed that neither she nor her family’s legal counsel were informed that Daim would be charged.

The MACC had already taken Na’imah to court where she was charged with failure to declare assets.

In December, the MACC seized the 60-storey Menara Ilham, which is owned by Daim’s family.

According to a notice by the MACC, the anti-graft agency had seized the tower after it found an offence under the MACC Act in information provided to them.

Following the seizure of the tower, Daim hit out at the MACC investigations on him and his family.

He claimed that the move is nothing short of a political witch-hunt due to the “animus” of the Prime Minister.

The MACC explained that the investigation carried out against the former finance minister is based on the existing law and information from the Pandora Papers, where an investigation paper was opened in February 2023.