KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has called up a Singaporean businessman and property developer to assist in the ongoing investigation of a high-profile Malaysian.
MACC’s Anti Money Laundering Division director, Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin, told Scoop that the Singaporean individual has also been ordered to declare his assets and the financial holdings of his family.
“The MACC confirms that a Singaporean businessman and property developer has been called to assist in the on-going investigation of a high-profile individual in Malaysia.
“I can confirm that more people are expected to be called for questioning in the near future in relation to this investigation.”
Earlier, a Singaporean news portal reported that property developer Datuk Seri Akbar Khan is being investigated by the MACC on allegations of money laundering and corruption.
The authorities last week raided the home and office of Akbar, who is the main shareholder of BRDB Developments Sdn Bhd.
He also saw his business and personal bank accounts frozen by MACC.
It was reported that MACC’s investigation into former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin had been widened to include his role in the 1998 over-the-counter stock-trading system in Singapore known as CLOB (Central Limit Order Book) as well as “forced divestments” by those on the opposing political divide.
The probe was also expanded to include Daim’s business proxies and high-profile corporate personalities whose deals he personally brokered.
CLOB was set up in Singapore in 1990 after Kuala Lumpur banned the trading of stocks in Malaysian companies on the Singapore bourse. Soon, then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was clashing with his deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, amid the country’s handling of the Asian financial crisis.
Dr Mahathir later banned the trading of Malaysian stocks outside the country, freezing billions of dollars worth of stock in 112 Malaysian companies that were trading on CLOB. Days later, on September 2, 1998, Anwar was sacked and later hauled up to court on multiple criminal charges in the same month.
Dr Mahathir reappointed Daim as finance minister, who approved a concession by Akbar Khan to manage the return of the frozen equities on CLOB, which were roughly valued at US$4 billion. – March 14, 2024