KUALA LUMPUR – Former two-time finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin does not appear to be directly named in the organisational make-up of a majority of the companies he is accused of failing to declare to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
However, a number of names, including Daim’s eldest son Datuk Md Wira Dani Abdul Daim and a handful of other individuals, repeatedly pop up in the business structure of the entities mentioned in the charge sheet against the former minister.
As graft busters build their case on allegations of corruption and money laundering against the 86-year-old, Scoop takes a deep dive into the figures behind the corporate set-up of companies MACC has associated with the business tycoon.
Avillion Bhd and its many offshoots: son Wira Dani the link to Daim?
A significant portion of the 38 entities Daim supposedly failed to declare to the anti-graft agency are tied to integrated travel, hotel and property group Avillion Bhd (AVI), with several of the publicly listed company’s subsidiaries named in the charge sheet alongside their respective parent company.
One of the subsidiaries listed is Avillion Hotel Group Sdn Bhd, with Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) documents showing that its RM300,000 capital is fully held by AVI.
Avillion Hotel Group’s current directors are (Angeline) Chong Set Fui, 61, who is described as being AVI’s chief financial officer on the group’s corporate website, one Muhammad Azrul Abdul Hamid, 49, and one Mohd Amzar Mohd Azhar, 39.
The trio, who gained directorship roles in Avillion Hotel Group in September 2018, September 2022 and June 2023, respectively, are also directors in a substantial number of the other companies listed by the MACC, including five other Avillion Hotel Group subsidiaries.
The five companies with Avillion Hotel Group as their sole shareholder are: AVI SPA Sdn Bhd which has a RM250,000 share capital, Avillion Hotels International Sdn Bhd (RM100,000), Avillion Suite Hotel (PD) Sdn Bhd (RM300,000), Avillion Vista Hotel Sdn Bhd (RM300,000), and Avillion Hotel (KL) Sdn Bhd with a mere RM2 in issued shares.
The entities, alongside Avillion Hotel Group, share a registered address by way of the same office unit in Wisma YPR, No 1, Lorong Kapar off Jalan Syed Putra – a locality stated as Daim’s address in the charge sheet.
As for AVI itself, its 2023 annual report – published on Bursa Malaysia – details its top 30 shareholders, include three other entities listed by the MACC in its single charge against Daim, namely Landbelt Corporation Sdn Bhd (3.79% stake), Dream Cruiser Sdn Bhd (2.99%), and Gigantic Promotions Sdn Bhd (2.09%).
While all three companies have Azrul as a director, he is also an indirect shareholder in Landbelt Corporation, which is another RM2 company owned by Jupiter Alliance Sdn Bhd, another MACC-named entity whose entire RM200,000 shares are held by Azrul.
For the RM3 million Gigantic Promotions, one Abd Gani Yusof, 70, is another director and also the solitary shareholder of the firm formed in 2005, while Amzar is similarly a director in both Landbelt Corporation and its parent company Jupiter Alliance.
Azrul is also a minor shareholder with a 1% stake in Dream Cruiser alongside fellow director Teh Chee Hoe, 49, with the latter holding the remaining RM99 worth of shares in the company, which recorded losses of RM857,076 after tax for the December 2022 financial year end.
Interestingly, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, a son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, under whom Daim served as finance minister twice, also appears as an AVI shareholder with a 1.05% stake through CIMSEC Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd.
Meanwhile, with a RM235.09 million issued share capital, AVI has Ibu Kota Developments Sdn Bhd, which is also noted in Daim’s charge sheet, as its substantial shareholder with a 21.82% direct interest in issued capital.
The two indirect substantial shareholders of AVI are investment holding company Daza Holdings Sdn Bhd and Wira Dani, who is Daim’s son with his second wife, the late Toh Puan Mahani Idris.
For the record, SSM documents revealed that 46-year-old Wira Dani’s address, a home on Jalan Kolam Air, Taman Melawati, is also one of the properties his father is accused of having failed to declare to the MACC.
Mahani, who passed away in January last year at the age of 80, remains the shareholder in two other entities named by the MACC – Alun-Alun Resort (M) Sdn Bhd and Inayat Realty Sdn Bhd – which are both recorded to be existing and profit-making companies.
Mahani holds 99% of shares while Wira Dani holds the remaining amount in RM100 company Alun-Alun Resort, which is directed by Azrul, Amzar and one Faisal Zelman Abdul Malik, 51.
In Inayat Realty, which is led by Azrul and Amzar, Mahani has a 40% stake in the RM10,000 company while one Yulina Baharuddin, 58, holds the remaining shares.
Yulina also appears as a shareholder for two other companies listed by the MACC, namely Kenari Teliti Sdn Bhd and Dasar Seroja Sdn Bhd.
In the former, she holds a 1% stake in the RM1 million company directed by Azrul and Amzar, while an individual by the name of Rosley Abdul Rahman holds the remaining shares.
In Dasar Seroja, which has Azrul as its director alongside Rosley, the shares of the RM500,000 company are divided equally between Yulina and Rosley.
Another company with supposed familial links with Daim is Suasa Urus Sdn Bhd, where Azrul and Amzar are directors for the RM2.5 million company whose shares are solely held by Yayasan Pok Rafeah, a foundation said to have been named after Daim’s late mother.
Coming back to Ibu Kota Developments, SSM documents state that it is an RM500,000 company formed in 1965 and currently fully owned by Daza Holdings, a 40-year-old firm in which Wira Dani holds an RM10 stake while Maybank Trustees Bhd holds the other RM90.
Ibu Kota Developments also appears as the sole owner of MACC-named Menara Ampang Sdn Bhd, a company with RM6.822 million shares and includes Azrul and Faisal on its board.
Faisal, Azrul and Amzar are also directors in Maya Seni Holdings Sdn Bhd, another entity listed by the MACC featuring Wira Dani as a minor shareholder (RM1) alongside Yayasan Seni Berdaftar (RM680,000) and Dani Sdn Bhd (RM1.38 million).
Returning to Ibu Kota Developments, its directors are Azrul and Rosley, with the former also appearing as the director for Daza Holdings alongside Wira Dani and one Lee Kang Aik.
Daza Holdings and Ibu Kota Developments appear to be loss-making entities, recording RM22.59 million and RM19.101 million in losses after tax, respectively, for the December 2020 financial year end.
The two companies’ business address, Cinta Condominium, Unit Asmara 2 in Jalan Madge off Jalan U-Thant, is also a residency linked to Daim, with the MACC listing three lots in the area in its charge sheet against him.
Additionally, the registered address for both companies as well as AVI’s minor shareholders earlier mentioned is the same suite in Mutiara Bangsar 8, another property which Daim allegedly failed to declare.
Notably, the above entities are far from the only companies sharing the Mutiara Bangsar 8 suite, Cinta Condominium and Wisma YPR locations as their registered business address, with SSM documents showing that almost all of the firms named by the MACC are linked with the addresses in some way.
Different companies with the same directors, shareholders
Other entities linked with AVI are Admiral Cove Development Sdn Bhd and Admiral Hill Hotel Sdn Bhd – two companies that also have Wisma YPR as their registered address – formed in the early 90s, sharing the same directors and shareholders as part of their respective corporate structures.
While Chong, Azrul, and Amzar, appear as directors for the companies alongside one Mohammed Suhaimi Yaacob, 59 and a Ahmad Nizam Mohamed Amin, 53, the companies’ shareholders are Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) and RPB Development Sdn Bhd.
For Admiral Cove Development, which was previously called Nusanmaju Sdn Bhd before changing its name in 1994, KTMB holds a 20% stake in the RM250,000 company while RPB Development, another company listed in Daim’s charge sheet, owns the remaining RM200,000 worth of shares.
Admiral Cove Development is also the parent company of Genius Field Sdn Bhd, which only has RM2 in issued shares along with Chong, Azrul, and Amzar on its board.
In Admiral Hill Hotel, KTMB is a minor shareholder owning RM2 in shares while RPB Development holds the other RM8 of shares for the company, which recorded RM606,112 in losses alongside Admiral Cove Development’s RM2.596 million deficit for the March 2023 financial year end.
RPB Development’s RM8 million shares are fully held by AVI and again have Chong, Azrul, as well as Amzar on its board of directors. The company, which has RM203,380 million in reserves, saw RM1.228 million in profits but no revenue for the same financial year end.
RPB Development is also the sole shareholder in another four companies with the same Wisma YPR registered address and trio of directors: Nesline Sdn Bhd (RM1.8 million shares), Mela Lifestyle Sdn Bhd (RM250,000), Meridian Haven Sdn Bhd (RM100,000), and Festive Place Sdn Bhd (RM100,000) – all of which are listed as part of AVI’s group structure as of March 3 last year and named by the MACC.
Nesline is the only shareholder for RM2-company Taman Unik Sdn Bhd, while Festive Place holds all RM100,000 of Vast Access Sdn Bhd’s shares. Taman Unik has Chong, Azrul, and Amzar as directors, with a similar board at Vast Access minus Chong.
The trio are also named as directors in Golden Envoy (M) Sdn Bhd, another AVI group entity, whose RM4 million in shares are fully held by Meridian Haven. Golden Envoy suffered RM2.305 million in losses, while gaining RM3.48 million in revenue for the March 2023 financial year end.
Besides that, AVI is also the sole shareholder for other MACC-mentioned companies, including RM1.5 million entity RPB Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd, which was formerly known as Falcon Parade Sdn Bhd before changing its name in August 1997 – three months after its incorporation.
RPB Capital Holdings, which is similarly led by Chong, Azul, and Amzar, is in turn the parent company of OS Resources Sdn Bhd, another AVI-linked entity with RM10,000 in shares featuring the trio on its board of directors.
The trio again crop up as directors for Reliance E-Com Sdn Bhd and Fortune Valley Sdn Bhd, whose RM100,000 and RM25 million share capital, respectively, are solely held by AVI.
Over in Fnq Advanced Materials Sdn Bhd, where only Azrul and Amzar are directors, the former owns all of the company’s RM100 shares.
Scoop was unable to secure current information on company profiles for three companies listed by the MACC – Kota Tandop Development Sdn Bhd, Reliance Shipping & Travel Agencies (Perak) Sdn Bhd, and Admiral Marina Bhd.
According to a 1998 report by Bernama on the launch of the Admiral Marina & Leisure club in Port Dickson, Mukhriz was identified as Admiral Marina’s chairman. – February 7, 2024