KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 24): Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki's "insinuations" that former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin was evading legal action by being hospitalised was "false and mischievous", Daim's wife Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid said on Wednesday.

In a brief statement, Na'imah said that Daim is prepared to face "any charge, anywhere, and will vigorously defend himself in accordance with the law".

She explained that while Daim is currently warded and is undergoing treatment, the former senior minister is “prepared to face this political charge” in the hospital itself, subject to the permission from the hospital and medical team.

“We will leave this to Azam and the MACC to decide," she said. 

Na'imah was responding to news reports on Wednesday in which Azam was quoted as saying that the graft-busters have been given the green light to charge the 85-year-old. However, this could not be carried out as the former cabinet minister was hospitalised.

Azam was reported to have said the agency had wanted to bring Daim’s case to court since last week, after getting the consent from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).

Na'imah countered that there was "no truth" to the anti-corruption agency chief's statement.

"I can confirm that neither myself nor our legal counsel was ever informed that Daim would be charged for any offence. We were only told that a statement was to be recorded from him. Only today, reading the news reports, have I discovered that Daim is to be charged.

"Hence, the insinuations made by Azam that Daim is somehow evading being charged by getting hospitalised is false and mischievous. Particularly offensive are his disparaging remarks against the dedicated and professional doctors of this hospital," she said.

It was also reported last week that Daim missed his appointment to give his statement to the MACC as he was hospitalised. The nature of his illness has not been made public.

Na'imah herself was charged in court on Tuesday for failure to declare her assets to the MACC. The single charge was framed under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act and carries a punishment of a maximum five-year imprisonment and a fine not exceeding RM100,000. The 66-year-old has claimed trial.

Following the charging, she then issued a stern-worded statement warning Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that there would be a “reckoning” for those who abuse their power.

Quoting Shakespeare's Measure by Measure, she said "As the bard whom you often quote says: ‘Man, proud man. Drest in a little brief authority.”

When asked why the warning was targeted specifically at Anwar, Na’imah’s coy reply was: “Well, I think it’s obvious.”

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