Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - News that the Ilham Tower owned by the family of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin has been seized by the authorities has put the building's management on the defensive.
"Why does this concern you? Whether we are aware or not, does it matter to you?" the NST reported the building manager as saying.
"We are the building management, and I am the building manager here. If you ask about visiting matters, I can provide you with an answer."
"However, for anything else, I am unsure if I am the right person to make a comment."
According to the NST, checks as of 12 noon today (Dec 22) showed no signs of unusual activity at the Ilham Tower. No authorities, tapes or seizure notices were seen within the compound.
PANDORA PAPERS & DAIM'S REFUSAL TO DECLARE ASSETS?
In May, the MACC had said it was gathering information involving alleged misappropriation of RM2.3bil by a former minister and businessman.
Sources said the probe was linked to the leak of the "Pandora Papers" by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICJ).
The Pandora Papers refer to millions of leaked documents in 2021, which allegedly revealed offshore accounts of present and past leaders from around the world, including presidents, prime ministers, billionaires and prominent business people.
According to Singapore-based Channel News Asia, financial executives close to Daim said the seizure took place on Dec 18 after the former finance minister refused to submit to MACC’s petition to declare his and his family’s financial holdings.
CNA claimed that Daim told MACC officials that he had nothing to do with the Renong-UEM deal and in early December, the former finance minister was told by MACC that he would no longer receive any extension,
It was reported that Daim maintained that the deal which involved UEM acquiring a 33% interest in Renong was purely a corporate transaction between companies that were governed by their respective managements, board of directors and shareholders.
It was believed to be part of an anti-money laundering probe that started in late May regarding a corporate transaction valued RM2.3bil (US$500mil) in Nov 1997 involving public-listed Renong Bhd and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM), which were both linked with Umno.
Construction of the iconic 60-storey Ilham Tower began in 2010 and was completed in 2015, and is believed to have cost US$580mil (RM2.7bil). It was then the seventh tallest building in the country.
WAS ONCE AS POWERFUL AS THE PM & BAD BLOOD WITH ANWAR
The 85-year-old Daim is a man who has walked in the highest corridors of powers and was once said to be as powerful as the prime minister himself. He is credited with having twice rescuing Malaysia's economy - the second time in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, which many blame on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's ineffective handling of the economy. Anwar was then Deputy Prime Minister as well as Finance Minister.
It is not surprising that there is alleged bad blood between the two men - who have vastly contrasting styles. It is no secret that the 76-year-old Anwar and his loyalists believe Daim is among the masterminds who helped hatched alleged trumped-up sodomy charges that got him thrown into jail and stripped of all his posts.
As recently as 2018, Daim - a two-time finance minister - was also named as the leader of the Council of Eminent Persons, which was formed to help the then newly-installed Pakatan Harapan government chart its course.
He was also known to be a close friend and confidante of then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Both of them are from Kedah.
Based on details from his 2018 biography Daim Zainuddin: Malaysia’s Revolutionary and Troubleshooter, Tun Daim’s first encounter with politics began in 1966 when he worked as a lawyer for Allen & Gledhill, the firm that had been appointed by the Federal Government to resolve the 1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis.
He was later appointed as a senator in 1980 and was elected to Parliament in 1982 as the Kuala Muda MP from 1982 to 1986 and then as Merbok MP from 1986 to 2004.
He served two terms as finance minister under Mahathir’s administration – from 1984 to 1991 and later from 1999 to 2001 before resigning from the post after a two-month leave of absence.
RESCUED THE MALAYSIAN ECONOMY TWICE, LED THE CEP IN 2018
Daim has been credited with twice rescuing the Malaysian economy from near collapse while also being instrumental in restructuring Malaysia’s economy.
The Ilham Tower was also where the Council of Eminent Persons, set up by the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018, used to meet.
Daim was the leader of the council, which also included former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz and billionaire Robert Kuok, among others.
ALL EYES ON LANDS & MINES OFFICE TO ACT
Ilham Tower is a top-tier 274m-tall skyscraper located just meters away from the famous and beautiful Petronas Twin Towers. A seizure notice dated Dec 18 had been published as an advertisement in the local media.
The notice was signed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, under Section 38(1) of the MACC Act 2009 and addressed to the Property Rights Registrar, Lands and Mines Office of the Federal Territories.
All eyes are on the lands and mines office to act on the MACC directive.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
Meanwhile, it is business as usual at the Ilham Tower, with the public and employees of the various companies located inside the building seen entering and exiting the building as usual.
An employee of one of the companies told The Star that tenants received an email from the building management regarding the seizure.
"However, they said operations would go on. Everything was as usual on Friday," he said.
Another employee said he was initially worried after reading the news of the seizure on Thursday.
"My laptop was in the building and I was worried that I would not be able to go in," he explained.
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
Politics Now!
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Don't disturb him.