KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 29): Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin has arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex to face charges against him.
The 85 year-old, who was hospitalised recently, appeared at around 8.42am on Monday, wheeled in on a wheelchair. He appeared frail, but waved to the press at the court entrance.
The former Cabinet minister was flanked by his wife Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid, and his children.
It is believed that Daim is to be charged for failure to disclose his assets to the authorities.
Na'imah herself was charged in court last Tuesday over a similar offence, where she claimed trial. The single charge was framed under Section 36(2) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, and the 66 year-old faces a punishment of a maximum five-year imprisonment and a fine not exceeding RM100,000.
Daim gave his statement to the anti-corruption agency last Friday, after missing an innitial appointment in mid-January as he was hospitalised. The nature of his illness has not been made public.
In a brief statement released on Saturday, Daim said that he had been informed of his charging, and "looked forward" to his day in court.
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 more than two decades ago in May 2001.
When Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the general election in 2018, then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad set up the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) to look into economic and financial affairs of the country, and appointed Daim as its chairman. The CEP was disbanded when PH lost power in March 2020 after the Sheraton Move.