Widow slams Malaysian anti-graft agency’s ‘vindictive’ pursuit of Daim’s estate

The late politician and his widow had been charged with failing to declare US$473 million worth of assets in Malaysia and the UK

The widow of Malaysian tycoon and former politician Daim Zainuddin has hit back at the country’s anti-corruption agency, accusing it of being “vindictive” by continuing to seize assets from his estate in both Malaysia and the United Kingdom despite no criminal conviction.

On Thursday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) took control of Daim’s 58-storey Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur, alleging that it was tied to offences under the anti-money-laundering law.

This is despite the commission having already taken the same action in 2023, a move that the family’s lawyers said amounted to “harassment”.

“This is vindictive, unlawful and a blatant abuse of power by MACC. This is contrary to the rule of law; it is the law of the jungle,” lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal said in a statement on the day of the seizure.

A day before, a Malaysian court authorised the MACC to start proceedings in the UK to recover assets worth £132 million (US$179 million), including two commercial buildings, three luxury homes, two residential units and a bank account held by the Daim family-linked Ilham Foundation.

Daim, who was a two-time finance minister, died in November aged 86. He was a close confidant of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and a key architect of Malaysia’s economic boom in the 1980s – a period often criticised for its entrenched cronyism and elite enrichment.

In a series of statements, his widow, Naimah Khalid, said the actions against her were “politically motivated, reckless, vindictive and lawless”, and that she “will not bow down to bullies”.

“Government bodies must not act upon their own whims. [Are] rumour, suspicion and political animus now enough to seize the assets and properties of citizens?” Naimah said.

She and Daim were both charged in January last year for failing to declare some 2 billion ringgit (US$473 million) worth of assets. The case had not gone to trial when Daim died and the charges against him were dropped – despite his wishes to clear his name in court.

But proceedings against Naimah continue and will begin in November.

‘A line has been crossed’

Naimah’s accusations of political interference stem from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s comment in the lead-up to the 2022 election, where he said that Daim would “lose sleep” if he became prime minister, alleging that the former minister was corrupt.

The two had a tense relationship from the late 1990s over differences in opinion on how to contain the 1997 economic crisis. After Anwar’s sacking from political power in 1998, Daim took over his finance portfolio.

Naimah warned that if left unchecked, similar actions could befall others.

“A line has been crossed,” she said. “And if we do not resist, there may soon be no lines left at all, then no Malaysian will be safe from the reach of unchecked power.”

Last month, Anwar defended his decision to extend the services of MACC chief Azam Baki for the third time, saying Azam had been brave in going after powerful figures allegedly embroiled in corruption and abuse of power.

“I don’t deny there has been a lot of criticism,” Anwar said in a speech at his political party’s national convention on May 24.

“But believe me, looking at MACC over the past decades, this is the first time they’ve been brave enough to investigate all the big ‘taukehs’,” he said, referring to billionaire tycoons and politically influential individuals.