FORMER Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin has asserted that he achieved success as a businessman, accumulating assets and properties through legitimate business activities before entering politics.

He highlighted that had he stayed solely in business without actively expanding his assets, the value of his liquid asset ownership alone would exceed RM50 billion.

“Before joining politics and taking up public office, I was quite a successful and wealthy businessman. My decision to join the government and serve the country caused significant financial losses to me and my family,” he said in his supporting affidavit filed on January 10.

The affidavit was submitted alongside an application by Daim and his family members seeking permission for judicial review to challenge the investigation conducted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Daim explained that in approximately 1969, he entered the business world by co-founding a land development company named Syarikat Maluri Sdn Bhd with a partner.

He stated that this company played a pivotal role in developing townships known as Taman Maluri and Taman Bukit Maluri in Kuala Lumpur, which are currently valued at more than RM26 billion.

“I am also the owner of Malaysian French Bank, later known as UMBC (now RHB). I also have control and interest in many parent companies such as SimeUEP (now Sime Darby), Guthrie, TV3, Maybank, Consplant, Cold Storage, and Nestle Malaysia. My 10% stake in Nestle Malaysia today is worth about RM3 billion,” he stated in the affidavit.

On January 10, 85-year-old Daim, his wife Nai’mah Abdul Khalid, 66, and their four children Asnida, 62, Md Wira Dani, 45, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin, 28, and Muhammed Amin Zainuddin, 25, along with Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd as the applicants, applied for permission for judicial review by naming the MACC and the Public Prosecutor as the first and second respondents, respectively.

In the application, they claimed that On December 30, 2023, the MACC stated that an investigation against Daim had been opened based on information obtained from the “Pandora Papers”.

Daim said the “Pandora Papers” are confidential files that leaked in 2021, revealing the names of owners of offshore companies, assets, and bank accounts outside Malaysia’s jurisdiction, and that these files do not indicate any wrongdoing by him and his family.

Therefore, among other things, they are seeking a court order for the MACC and its officers to cancel all investigations initiated against them from February 2023 till now, and also to cancel all notices issued by the MACC. – Bernama, January 12, 2024.