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Malaysian ex-minister Daim Zainuddin’s wife charged for failure to declare assets as graft-busters encircle Anwar’s rivals
- Naimah Abdul Khalid, who was banned from leaving the country, faces up to five years in jail if convicted
- Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency has stepped up probe into Daim’s family wealth, sparking accusations PM Anwar is using investigations to settle scores with his foes
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The wife of veteran politician and businessman Daim Zainuddin was on Tuesday charged with failing to declare her assets and banned from leaving the country in a deepening probe into their family’s wealth, as Malaysian anti-corruption authorities target rivals of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
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In recent weeks the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has launched multiple investigations into allegations linked to large data dumps on the finances of high-profile Malaysians named in the Panama Papers and Pandora Papers. Those have resulted in the seizure of a Kuala Lumpur skyscraper owned by Daim’s family.
Prosecutors told a Kuala Lumpur court that Naimah Abdul Khalid had failed to comply with a November 8 notice issued by the MACC requiring that she disclose her assets.
Naimah, 65, pleaded not guilty. The court released her on 250,000 ringgit (US$52,800) bail and seized her passport. If found guilty, she faces up to five years in jail and a fine of up to 100,000 ringgit (US$21,117).
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Critics have accused Anwar of using corruption probes to settle scores with old political foes including Daim, as well as his one-time political mentor turned nemesis, the 98-year-old Mahathir Mohamad.
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