KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 ― Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin said that he was a successful businessman with assets and properties acquired through legitimate business activities before he became involved in politics.

In fact, he said that if he had remained in business and not actively worked to expand his assets, the value of his liquid asset ownership alone would be more than RM50 billion.

"Before joining politics and taking up public office, I was quite a successful and wealthy businessman. My decision to join the government and serve the country caused significant financial losses to me and my family,” he said in his supporting affidavit filed on Jan 10.

The affidavit was filed together with an application by Daim and his family members for permission for judicial review to challenge the investigation carried out against them by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The affidavit was filed together with an application by Daim and his family members to obtain permission for judicial review to challenge the investigation carried out against them by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

According to Daim, in or around 1969, he ventured into business which he founded with another partner, a land development company known as Syarikat Maluri Sdn Bhd.

He said that the company was responsible for developing townships known as Taman Maluri and Taman Bukit Maluri in Kuala Lumpur, which are valued at more than RM26 billion today.

"I am also the owner of Malaysian French Bank, later known as UMBC (now RHB). I also have control and interest in many parent companies such as SimeUEP (now Sime Darby), Guthrie, TV3, Maybank, Consplant, Cold Storage, and Nestle Malaysia. My 10 per cent stake in Nestle Malaysia today is worth about RM3 billion,” he stated in the affidavit.

On January 10, 85-year-old Daim, his wife Toh Puan Nai’mah Abdul Khalid, 66, and their four children Asnida, 62, Md Wira Dani, 45, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin, 28, and Muhammed Amin Zainuddin, 25, along with Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd as the applicants, filed an application for permission for judicial review by naming the MACC and the Public Prosecutor as the first and second respondents, respectively.

In the application, they claimed that On December 30, 2023, the MACC SPRM issued a statement that an investigation against Daim had been opened based on information obtained from the "Pandora Papers”.

Daim said the "Pandora Papers” are confidential files that leaked in 2021, revealing the names of owners of offshore companies, assets, and bank accounts outside Malaysia’s jurisdiction, and that these files do not indicate any wrongdoing by him and his family.

Therefore, among other things, they are seeking a court order for the MACC and its officers to cancel all investigations initiated against them from February 2023 till now, and also to cancel all notices issued by the MACC. ― Bernama