Lawyers for the family of the late Daim Zainuddin have slammed the
the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief after he announced that the agency would ask the government to seize “undeclared assets” of the former finance minister.
They say Azam Baki, whose contract as the MACC chief commissioner was recently renewed for a third time by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government, is not only playing politics with his attack on the late Daim, but also showing his ignorance of the law.
“To suggest Daim’s assets be seized is an absurd, untenable and vindictive suggestion as Daim Zainuddin has died and no charges are pending against him; neither has he been ever been convicted of any criminal offence.
“On what basis can his assets, now administered by his estate, be seized? Did the MACC seek and receive legal advice before saying this? Was the A-G consulted and did he approve?” said Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh, who are representing Daim’s widow Na’imah Abdul Khalid and their family.
This comes as Azam claimed to have obtained “new information” about “high-value” assets related to Daim and his family members, with MACC opening eight fresh probes.
The move was despite the fact that the prosecution had dropped the charges against Daim shortly after his death. Daim’s family protested the decision, saying he had wished to have his day in court to clear his name and prove that the allegations against him were politically motivated.
Months before his death last November, an ailing Daim became the target of attacks by Anwar, who accused him of amassing wealth illegally, a frequent claim by the prime minister against his political enemies.
An investigation into him by MACC quickly became embroiled in controversy following a damning report that the probe was launched by Azam under pressure from Anwar.
In their statement, the lawyers said it was “disgraceful” for Azam to make such a statement, describing it a continuation of an “endless campaign of slander, harassment and intimidation” against Daim and his family.
“It is cowardly, as Daim is no longer in a position to defend himself or his family,” they said.
Rajesh and Sachpreetraj further said Azam had made an “ignorant statement” that only exposed MACC to ridicule.
They reminded him that neither MACC nor the government has the authority to arbitrarily seize a person’s property after his death unless it is a court order following a conviction for a serious offence under anti-money laundering laws.
“In other words, property of citizens cannot be simply forfeited because the MACC or the government claim to have suspicions about the source or origin of the assets. If that is the case, no one’s property will be safe,” they said.
They said the charge against Daim was a technical offence of non-declaration of assets.
“These provisions are contained in Part VI AMLA Act 2001 and Part V MACC Act 2009. Azam should have been familiar with both laws.”
They further said that despite Anwar “publicly fulminating” against Daim since coming to power, no evidence of corruption had been produced in court.
“There has been nothing but unsupported allegations, insinuations and political attacks, but no evidence,” they added.
In September last year, financial news Bloomberg cited three informed sources as saying that Azam had told his officers that its investigations into Daim and former leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad were launched on Anwar’s instructions.
The sources also claimed that Anwar had told Azam not to investigate his former political secretary Farhash Wafa Salvador over the controversial purchase of shares in a company linked to the development of a new billion-ringgit immigration system.
Following the report, Naimah lodged a police report and called for a comprehensive investigation into the allegations. However, lawyers later revealed that the police never questioned Anwar.
