tumpang sekole...?: Daim yang diam buat2 lupa...(updated)

Daim's Ilham Tower seized...

The multi-million-dollar Ilham Tower, a prime commercial building owned by the family of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, has been seized by Malaysia’s anti-graft agency, sources say, in a sharp escalation to an ongoing probe into controversial transactions by corporate entities previously controlled by the one-time ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

Financial executives close to Mr Daim, who wielded enormous power during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s two stints as premier, told CNA that the seizure took place on Thursday (Dec 21), following the former politician’s refusal to submit to petitions from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to declare his and his family’s financial holdings.

The MACC’s move against Mr Daim is part of an anti-money laundering investigation that began in late May into a corporate transaction valued RM2.3 billion (US$500 million) in November 1997 involving publicly listed Renong Bhd and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM), two entities that were former cornerstones of the business empire tied to the one-time ruling UMNO party.

MACC officials could not be reached for immediate comment and Mr Daim, who served as UMNO treasurer between 1984 and 2001, declined comment for this article. Financial executives close to Mr Daim said that the former politician received an order from the MACC in late May to declare his financial holdings and other assets belonging to members of his family.

But Mr Daim rebuffed those demands and had insisted during questioning by the MACC officials that he had nothing to do with the Renong-UEM deal.

Mr Daim maintained that the corporate deal, which involved UEM acquiring a 33 per cent interest in Renong, was purely a corporate transaction between companies that were governed by their respective managements, board of directors and shareholders, financial executives close to the former politician said.

Mr Daim also sought extensions to furnish details on his financial holdings and requested that the agency disclose the reasons behind the asset declaration petition, including the alleged offences he was being investigated under.

Sources told CNA that in early December Mr Daim had received a notification from the MACC that he would no longer receive any further extension, leading to seizure on Thursday of his flagship Ilham Tower. Under the seizure order, the MACC will take control of the property on paper.

Financial executives close to the situation noted that the asset-declaration order in late May came together with the freezing of at least a dozen Daim-related business accounts.The accounts remain frozen and all payments made for the running of his financial enterprises, including the payrolls, require MACC approval, the executives noted.

The MACC has been sketchy with information on the Renong-UEM deal.Shortly after the probe began in late May, the MACC released a statement that the agency was gathering information into the “alleged embezzlement of state funds amounting to an estimated RM2.3 billion”.

The agency added that it had frozen bank accounts with funds amounting to RM39 million belonging to an unidentified former senior minister and two businessmen, who were also not identified. Government officials and anti-graft investigators directly involved in the probe told CNA that the alleged embezzlement of state funds was a direct reference to the RM2.3-billion-ringgit Renong-UEM deal.

The three unnamed personalities are believed to refer to Mr Daim, who served as finance minister between 1984 and 1991; Mr Halim Saad, his long-time business protégé who at the time was a controlling shareholder of both Renong and UEM through a complex web of cross-holdings; and Mr Abdul Rashid Manaf, a prominent Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer who handled all of UMNO’s corporate affairs.

The MACC’s move to revisit a transaction that happened over 26 years ago has stirred widespread speculation that the ongoing investigation has a strong political dimension and is steeped in the country’s troubled and messy politics, particularly over how current premier Anwar Ibrahim was unceremoniously sacked and jailed in September 1998 after falling out with then-premier Dr Mahathir.

Mr Anwar, who replaced Mr Daim as finance minister in 1991 and had risen to become deputy premier, was hugely critical of the Renong-UEM deal at the time, which caused a meltdown in the Malaysian stock market.Many analysts believe that the Renong-UEM deal was a critical flashpoint in the straining of ties between Dr Mahathir and his deputy. With a business career that stretches back to the late 1960s, Mr Daim, a lawyer by training, is widely regarded in Malaysia’s business and political circles as one of the country’s richest personalities.

Mr Daim has always applied a stealthy approach to his business empire.He does not appear in any listing index of the region’s richest businessmen because a large bulk of his businesses and assets are held in through an array of obscure family companies or nominee associates.He is not listed as a substantial shareholder or a director in any quoted Malaysian company. The most visible construct of Mr Daim’s financial heft is the 60-storey Ilham Tower, which was completed in 2015 and houses both offices and a hotel.

According to documents lodged at the Companies Commission of Malaysia, the owner of the building is a private entity called Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd, which is in turn majority owned by a private company called Ilham Baru Sdn Bhd. It is a company controlled by members of Daim’s family, including his wife Na’imah Abdul Khalid and his two sons, Mohammed Amin Zainuddin Daim and Muhammed Amir Zainuddin Daim. - Leslie Lopez- CNA

The big boys' club...

Semalam disahkan SPRM sita Menara Ilham milik Tun Daim Zainuddin. bekas Menteri Kewangan dua kali zaman Tun M. Dan Pengerusi Council of Eminent Person ketika Kerajaan 22 bulan. Kekayaan Tun D ini sangat ILLUSIVE. Sebab ramai tahu dia memang dah kaya raya sebelum masuk politik. Dah buat cukup duit sampai boleh bersara awal di San Francisco untuk buat second degree. Masa tu lah Tun M jumpa dia dan ajak bertanding. Bila Tun M jadi PM, terus diberi MOF pada Daim.

Namun, kekayaan Tun D diperkata ramai. Ramai percaya, dialah sebenarnya Melayu terkaya di Malaysia. Cuma harta dia merata dipegang proksi dan keluarga. Banyak juga harta di luar negara. Ramai tak boleh meneka. Sampai la keluar Pandora Papers. Nama beliau teratas sekali, aset tertinggi di luar negara.

Beliau disiasat atas skandal UEM-Renong pada tahun 90an. Yang cukup besar coverage di negara luar. Cuma di Malaysia digam dari diketahui awam.Semua tahu UEM ini syarikat UMNO yang merupakan CASH COW kepada parti. Mereka terima konsesi PLUS berpuluh tahun. Sebab itu UMNO mampu beli Menara Dato’ Onn.

Renong pula syarikat tubuhan Tun D, dengan proxy Halim Saad antara konglomerat terbesar zaman 90an. Banyak projek mereka sapu. Banyak syarikat mereka ambil alih. Sampai lah Halim Saad berpatah arang bergaduh dengan UMNO dan Kerajaan. Memaksa Khazanah untuk bailout pada tahun 1998.

Ini yang diulang2 menjadi punca krisis politik 1998. Yang membuat DSAI ditendang kerana perkara ini beliau tentang. Sekarang selepas 26 tahun, disiasat SPRM. History is written by the winner. And for that, the truth will always remains unclear. Sekarang WINNER nya dah bertukar dan punya kuasa. Adakah kita akan dengar sejarah dengan lain version?

Penyitaan Menara Ilham ini, buka lembaran sejarah baru dalam dunia politik negara. In Big Boys Club, bila kuasa dan wang yang didamba, kebenaran jatuh nombor dua. Moga Allah benarkan kita buka mata, dan kebenaran tertegak demi negara. Salam hormat, - Liyana Marzuki

Itulah bijaknya DAP berbanding PAS yang sanggup begaduh,mengafir & mencemuh sesama umat pasai dendam politik. PAS tak pikiaqkah kalu depa bergabung dalam gomen ia boleh menguatkan parti² Melayu? Dengan gabungan itu lebih banyak PBT2 yg majoriti Melayu boleh menjadi milik org Melayu...

Hello!Tokti....Sebenarnya kebajikan rakyat di bandar2 besar akan lebih baik biler di tadbir secara politik lagu ni.....setiap parti yg bertanding kena lancarkan menifesto dan janji-janji politik mereka. Mereka berlumba utk mendapat mandat drp rakyat dgn memberi tawaran2 siapa yg lebih menarik. Kerajaan Tempatan ini mengurus 2 perkara utama - memyelenggara kemudahan awam & kebajikan rakyat terutama B40 & kumpulan rentan....

PAS menentang sebab PAS tak mampu bersaing untuk mengurus bandar2 besar ini secara efisyen & cekap !! Ini punca utma mereka menolak pilihanraya tempatan kerana peluang mereka nak menang di bandar2 besar tak dak langsung... - Muhd Mufiz II