Malaysia s anti graft agency targets ex finance minister Daim Zainuddin s US 1b assets NST

Malaysia’s anti-graft agency is targeting assets worth at least 4.5 billion ringgit (S$1.36 billion) in five other countries belonging to late tycoon and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, the New Straits Times reported.

Using the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2002, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) plans to send a restraining order request to the respective countries, the newspaper cited MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki as saying.

The agency will work with the foreign authorities to obtain more information such as the source of funds and a money trail analysis, he added.

The MACC had last week filed a forfeiture application for a skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur owned by Tun Daim. It also obtained a restraining order in Malaysia against assets belonging to Mr Daim and related parties in the UK worth RM700 million.

Mr Daim, who twice served as finance minister in former premier Mahathir Mohamad’s governments, died in November. After Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim became prime minister in 2022, the MACC started graft investigations into both Tun Dr Mahathir and Mr Daim.

Mr Daim and his wife were charged in January 2024 with not declaring their assets as part of the probe. They pleaded not guilty. Mr Anwar is pursuing “vendettas of the past”, Mr Daim said in a statement at the time.

Mr Anwar has denied this. BLOOMBERG

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