A NEWS report of leaked documents linking the family of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin to offshore accounts was intended to give a wrong impression, his wife, Na’imah Abdul Khalid, said.

The tycoon’s wife said yesterday’s “sensationalised” report purportedly detailing the family’s offshore assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars was intended to give the impression of wrongdoing or illegally acquired wealth.

“In fact, we have never hidden the fact that we own assets abroad, which are the result of legitimate business and investment activities acquired before Daim’s involvement in politics in 1984,” Nai’mah said in a statement today.

“Yet the author of the report did not even suggest the existence of a criminal element, thus raising the question of why such a report was published.

Na’imah said it was unethical to publish a report that made implicit accusations and assumptions without evidence.

“This leads to character assassination under the guise of a news report,” she said.

In the absence of wrongdoing, Na’imah asked whethe it was appropriate to for the report to discuss a person’s personal finances, whether the details are correct or not.

She said this report will intensify rumours and prejudices against the family.

Na’imah is believed to be referring to a Malaysiakini report that Daim’s wife and their two sons, Amir and Amin, were the beneficiaries of a multimillion-dollar offshore trust.

Citing documents shared by the Investigative Consortium of Investigative Journalism, the report stated that the papers showed that ZA Star Trust listed the trio as its beneficiaries.

The documents were reportedly leaked from a financial services firm in the Cayman Islands. Daim is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) based on information from the Pandora Papers leak, which linked several prominent Malaysians to offshore tax havens.

Last week, MACC questioned Na’imah and their two son over the family’s assets.

In a statement later, MACC said a notice was served on Daim under Section 36(1)(a) of the MACC Act 2009 on June 7, 2023. His family members were served notices under Sections 36(1)(b) of the same Act.

Daim and his family have filed an application in court for a judicial review to challenge the MACC investigation, claiming that the probe was unconstitutional. – January 19, 2024.