MACC zooms in on Daim

PETALING JAYA: Menara Ilham, a 60-storey building owned by the family of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, has been seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The tower was the meeting point for the Council of Eminent Persons, set up by the Pakatan Harapan government of 2018.

Daim was the leader of the council, which also included former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and billionaire Robert Kuok, among others.

According to a notice by the MACC, the anti-graft agency seized the tower after it found an offence under the MACC Act 2009.

“Take notice that according to Section 38(5) of the MACC Act 2009, whereby anyone that goes against this notice or carry out any actions that is against this notice, has committed an offence that can be fined no more than twice the amount of the said value, or RM50,000, or whichever higher amount, and can be jailed for a period no longer than two years,” the notice read.

The notice was placed in an advertisement dated Dec 18 which MACC placed in a local media.

A staff member in Menara Ilham said that despite the MACC seizure notice, it was still “business as usual”.

“No comments. But it was business as usual,” the unnamed staff member said briefly.

A receptionist at Element Hotel, which operates out of the building, also said the hotel was operating as usual with rooms available.

Attempts to get Daim’s comments on the matter is ongoing.

Meanwhile, Singapore-based Channel News Asia (CNA) quoted financial executives close to Daim as saying that the seizure was effected yesterday after Daim’s refusal to submit to MACC’s petition to declare his and his family’s financial holdings.

CNA claimed that Daim told MACC officials that he had nothing to do with the Renong-UEM deal and in early December, the former finance minister was told by MACC that he would no longer receive any extension,

It was reported that Daim maintained that the deal which involved UEM acquiring a 33% interest in Renong was purely a corporate transaction between companies that were governed by their respective managements, board of directors and shareholders.

As at press time, The Star was trying to reach out to MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.

Menara Ilham, built at an estimated cost of US$580mil (RM2.7bil) is located in the prime commercial and high-rise residential property area around the KLCC.

In May this year, MACC had said it was gathering information involving alleged misappropriation of RM2.3bil by a former minister and a businessman.

Sources said the probe was a continuation to the disclosure of confidential documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICJ), also known as the Pandora Papers, over transactions carried out at offshore financial centres.

The Pandora Papers refer to millions of leaked documents made public in 2021, which allegedly revealed offshore accounts of present and past leaders from around the world, including presidents, prime ministers, billionaires, and prominent business people.