KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 11): Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin said that his decision to join the government from 1984 to 2001 and serve the country came at "a great financial loss" to him and his family.

The octogenarian, who led the Council of Eminent Persons under the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018 to 2019, said that roughly one year after he joined the Cabinet in 1984, he was directed to liquidate his investments in public listed companies and United Malayan Banking Corporation (UMBC).

“At that point, my liquid assets stood at over RM750 million. If I had put that amount into an S&P 500 index fund in 1984, the value today would be over RM42 billion,” said the former finance minister in his affidavit to support a judicial review application which he, his family and their company Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd had filed challenging the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) action to freeze their accounts and subject them to investigation.

“If I had stayed in business and done nothing to actively grow these assets, the value of my liquid stock holdings alone would be worth over RM50 billion today. That is my personal cost today in my decision to join the government. 

“As the numbers above show, my decision to join the government and serve my country came at great financial loss to myself and my family,” said Daim without revealing his current net worth. 

A net worth of RM50 billion, which is equivalent to US$10.7 billion based on the current exchange rate, would have put Daim at the top of the country’s richest persons, based on Forbes’ calculations. Robert Kuok's net worth is at US$10.4 billion, while banking tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan is worth US$10 billion. 

Daim was appointed as the finance minister in 1984 until he resigned in 1991. He was later appointed as a minister with special functions in 1998, and later reappointed as minister of finance I in 1999.

He has not held any public office since his resignation about 22 years ago in May 2001.

Although he remained elusive regarding his total net worth in the court documents, Daim did refer to his wealth in bits and pieces.

According to the court documents, the 85-year-old said that he went into the business field in 1969, and founded property development company Syarikat Maluri Sdn Bhd along with other shareholders.

The company was responsible for developing Taman Maluri and Taman Bukit Maluri in Kuala Lumpur, which cover over one square mile of the capital city.

"At today’s valuation, the land alone would be worth over RM26 billion," he said.

He was also the owner of two banks — the Malaysian French Bank, and subsequently UMBC (which is part of RHB Bank Bhd now).

"I also had controlling or substantial interests in many public listed companies, such as Sime UEP (now the Sime Darby group), Guthrie, TV3, Maybank, Consplant, Cold Storage and Nestlé Malaysia, to name a few. My 10% stake in Nestlé Malaysia is today worth approximately RM3 billion," he said.

Daim said he was a fairly successful businessman prior to joining the Cabinet in 1984, where his involvement in business was the subject matter of a plethora of books and articles.

He stressed that he had always owned assets and properties overseas since the 1970s — through legitimate business activities — long before his foray into politics in the 80s.

Before venturing into the business field almost five decades ago, Daim was a lawyer. 

He was appointed as the president of the Sessions Court in Muar, Johor, and later joined the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) as a deputy public prosecutor. He left the AGC to join private practice, subsequently establishing his own firm, now known as Daim & Gamany, in 1968.

Apart from Daim, the other applicants for the judicial review were his wife Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid, their four children, namely Asnida, Md Wira Dani, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin, Muhammed Amin Zainuddin, as well as the Ilham Tower, which was seized by the MACC last month.

They named the anti-corruption agency and the public prosecutor as respondents in the legal action where, among others, they are seeking a declaration that the agency has no reasonable cause to investigate them for an offence under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

They are also seeking a declaration that any charges brought by the public prosecutor against them would be unconstitutional and void. They claimed that they would not receive a fair trial, following the delay of some 22 years in instituting any charges, which infringes on their right to personal liberty under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.

Following the seizure of the 60-storey tower, the MACC released a statement saying that it opened an investigation paper in February 2023 based on information from the Pandora Papers, referring to the massive leak of millions of documents in 2021 exposing hidden wealth and tax avoidance of the past and present leaders across the globe.

Daim in turn had denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation "nothing short of a political witch-hunt" against him and his family, a stance which he repeated in his affidavit.

"I further believe that the MACC and its officers, agents and servants have in their investigation and conduct against us since February 2023 unreasonably taken into consideration the fact that [Datuk Seri] Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia since Nov 24, 2022, perceives me as a political foe. Even prior to becoming [the prime minister, he had] insinuated that action would be taken against me once he came into power," Daim said.

The application for leave for the judicial review is set to be heard by High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh next Tuesday (Jan 16).

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