KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) probe into former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, which led to the seizure of his landmark building, the Ilham Tower, yesterday, is possibly tied to the long-standing Renong Bhd and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM) saga.
Amid Daim’s reported refusal to cooperate with MACC investigators despite being warned on several occasions, the 85-year-old tycoon has reportedly insisted he had zero involvement in the controversial deal made back in 1997.
In the midst of MACC’s ongoing investigations into the RM2.3-billion transaction involving both public-listed entities, details of the controversial deal are expected to be brought to light following a suit filed by former Renong executive chairman Tan Sri Halim Saad against former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former finance minister II Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, and the Malaysian government on August 2.
The suit, which is currently ongoing at the high court, here, has Halim claiming that the then Dr Mahathir-led government and Umno – some 26 years ago – had forced the acquisition of the company, which eventually led to its collapse.
According to FMT, cause papers were served to the three parties today.
In the papers, Halim had filed the application requesting the high court to refer two legal questions for determination by the Federal Court in relation to the suit.
In the application, he had stated for the Federal Court to rule on whether a claim brought against the government for breach of his fundamental liberties is subject to time bars set in the Limitation Act 1953 or the Public Authorities Protection Act 1948.
The second question was for the apex court to determine whether the doctrine of res judicata applies to bar him from bringing the claim by reason of a previous action premised on the same facts disposed by the high court despite the claim not being in respect of any breach of his fundamental liberties.
Res judicata is defined as a matter that has been adjudicated by a competent court and therefore may not be pursued further by the same parties.
The latest application in the ongoing suit comes after Halim’s past suit was struck out by the high court 10 years ago.
The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in 2014 while the Federal Court refused to grant him leave to appeal the following year.
For the record, in November 1997, the nation’s biggest infrastructure firm, UEM, purchased a 33% stake in its heavily-in-debt parent, Renong, for RM2.3 billion, leading to Renong’s value plummeting as investors dumped shares in both firms.
Following public uproar over the deal, which was said to be in opposition to stock exchange reporting rules, the Securities Commission urged Halim, as the controlling shareholder of Renong, to buy back the stake from UEM, with payments to be made between February 2001 and April 2002.
However, in July 2001, the government determined that Khazanah Nasional would take over the entire Renong group – including a RM12 billion debt – for RM4 billion.
The ties of Umno and Daim, who served as party treasurer between 1984 to 2001, to the controversial deal is what the MACC is trying to establish with the seizure of the Ilham Tower.
Dr Mahathir, well-known for his close ties to Daim, had apparently used Renong to shore up Umno’s political war chest while then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was adamant at utilising it to stabilise the country in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Halim declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Scoop, citing the ongoing suit.
Yesterday, the Ilham Tower on Jalan Binjai here was seized by the MACC as it continues to investigate Daim’s finances, which commenced in May over alleged misappropriation of RM2.3 billion in public funds in the 1990s.
The investigation goes back to the period when Daim was finance minister, and when the government, under then-prime minister Dr Mahathir, had overseen the “forced” takeover of shares of a public-listed company that later caused the stock market to plunge.
This took place amid the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and was dubbed a bailout of certain business figures closely linked to the government then.
Daim was also reportedly under investigation over information about his wealth as leaked in the 2021 Pandora Papers, which detailed prominent names involved in transactions in offshore financial centres.
Anwar in February had ordered agencies such as the MACC and Inland Revenue Board to continue investigations into big names mentioned in the Pandora Papers.
Since leaving public office, Daim has acknowledged that various reports on alleged corruption have been lodged against him, and that the MACC has investigated him each time. He maintained that despite all this, he had never been charged.
The MACC has revealed little to the public about its current probe into Daim but according to Channel News Asia, Daim had refused to comply with the agency’s requests for disclosure of his family’s financial holdings.
The former Umno treasurer had reportedly sought extensions to comply with the anti-graft agency’s requests.
Early this month, however, the MACC reportedly notified him that no further extensions would be granted, leading to the seizure of the Ilham Tower. – December 22, 2023