Na’imah to lodge police report over Bloomberg article claiming MACC bias

Wife of ex-finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin wants investigation into alleged abuse of power and conspiracy against her husband

9:00 PM MYT

 

KUALA LUMPUR – Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid is scheduled to lodge a police report over claims in a Bloomberg article relating to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) probe against her husband, former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin. 

Her report will be on the “disclosure of abuse of power and conspiracy” related to the anti-graft agency’s investigation against Daim, according to a press invite distributed to the media today by the couple’s lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan.

The report will be made at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters at 11am tomorrow. 

On September 26, Bloomberg published an article quoting sources claiming that MACC had been investigating Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s “adversaries” while not probing the “share purchases by one of the prime minister’s allies”.

The US-headquartered media company named former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Daim as well as their family members as among those MACC was investigating. It also named Anwar’s former political secretary Datuk Farhash Wafa Salvador as the person involved in share purchases in HeiTech Padu Bhd in March.

For the record, as of April, Farhash was no longer a substantial shareholder in the company.

Bloomberg had also included MACC’s response to its request for comments in its article. In its response, the anti-graft agency said it firmly refutes claims regarding any instructions from the prime minister influencing or obstructing specific investigations.

The day after the article was published, MACC issued a statement reiterating its position, adding: “The (report) is inaccurate and there is no credibility to the claims made against the commission.

MACC is convinced that this is a wild and irresponsible accusation deliberately made to create negative perceptions about the commission,” the agency said.

Earlier this year, Naimah claimed trial to a charge of failing to declare to the MACC a number of her assets, including several plots of land, various companies and two vehicles. 

Her charge was framed under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act 2009 of failing to comply with the terms of an asset declaration notice, 

She has called the charges against her a “coordinated plot” to exact political revenge against her family.

The same provision of the MACC Act on failure to declare assets was also used to prosecute Daim.

Prior to the charges, MACC said its investigation against Daim and Na’imah are part of its probe into allegations of corruption and money laundering based on information from the Pandora Papers. Among the couple’s assets seized were the Ilham Tower, a commercial property linked to Daim’s family.

In June this year, Daim and family, along with 18 companies, filed a judicial review application seeking for a court order compelling the MACC to lift the freeze on their bank accounts. 

The respondents named in the judicial review application include Anwar Ibrahim, the MACC and its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.

Anwar’s political secretary Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim has also denied the claims reported by Bloomberg, asserting that allegations of government interference in MACC’s investigations into Dr Mahathir, his sons and Daim are “baseless”. 

“(Such claims) only serve to undermine public trust in the government’s anti-corruption drive,” Kamal said, adding that one of the key challenges faced by the current administration is the perception that government agencies, including the MACC, are used as political tools. – September 29, 2024

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