PUTRAJAYA – Toh Puan Nai’mah Abdul Khalid, the wife of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, has finished recording her statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) this evening, nearly nine hours after arriving at the agency.
She was seen leaving the MACC headquarters with her two sons, Muhammed Amin and Muhammed Amir, at about 7.40pm.
Meanwhile, her lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan expressed disappointment over the MACC’s actions, saying the agency failed to explain his client’s offences, and only wanted to “fish for information”.
“There were 50 questions directed to my client, and all questions were answered. It is a major issue as we do not know what the offence is, so my client did not know the relevance of the questions when asked.”
“This clearly indicated a ‘fishing expedition’, where they (the MACC) actually investigated to identify what offences were made, which makes no sense,” he told reporters here, today.
“When asked, the MACC officer said they were investigating to ascertain what offences were made.”
It is understood that Nai’mah will not be summoned again as there has not been a notice, but Rajesh explained that the MACC still had the authority to do so, if necessary.
Asked whether Daim would also be hauled up, he said he had not received a response, despite already asking the officers.
Similarly, the lawyer for Daim’s sons, Sachpreetraj Sohanpal, claimed that his side also did not receive full details about the reason behind the family being summoned today.
“(The MACC) did not state (the charges). What we asked was simple, we want to know the basis for the MACC to start an investigation.
“If our clients are suspected of committing an offence, there must be a connection and background information that led the agency to start an investigation,” he said, adding that over 30 questions were asked to his clients.
Daim was reportedly one of the individuals investigated by the MACC over a corporate transaction worth RM2.3 billion in November 1997, involving Renong Bhd and UEM – two entities that were linked to Umno, when the party was the government.
Last month, the MACC also seized the Ilham Tower on Jalan Binjai, which is said to be owned by Daim’s family.
On January 3, media portals reported the agency summoning four individuals to assist in investigations into a similar case, which was recorded under Section 30 of the MACC Act 2009.
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. – January 10, 2024