17:02 Feb 14, 2023
*The Pandora Papers case, which has been hidden for a long time, has exploded again.Tun Daim Zainuddin, the former Minister of Finance, was investigated by the MACC regarding the Pandora Papers, which revealed the storage of assets abroad amounting to hundreds of billions*.
*Tun Daim Zainuddin, former Minister of Finance, was investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding the Pandora Papers, which revealed the storage of assets abroad amounting to hundreds of billions of ringgit.*
*The Daim firm in the British Virgin Islands in the name of his son Muhammed Amir Zainuddin Daim and Muhammed Amin Zainuddin Daim as shareholders of Newton Invest & Finance Limited (BVI) in 2007, who owned property in London worth GBP10 million at the time in addition to his third wife Naimah Abdul Khalid . So are several offshore companies set up in the tax haven, including Splendid International Ltd (BVI) which owns London property worth GBP12 million (about RM65 million at 2017 exchange rates). Newton Invest & Finance Limited (BVI) and Splendid International (BVI) are among the list of trustee firms and Daim-related companies incorporated in the relevant tax haven.*
*Also mentioned as Daim's friend is Josephine Premla Sevaretnam, a former lawyer and deputy public prosecutor, who served with Daim, before holding important positions in various companies. This includes the Swiss bank ICB Banking Group, which Daim owns by 74.4 percent, when it was listed on the London Investment Market in 2007. Josephine's name appears again at Newton Invest & Finance Limited (BVI) and Splendid International Ltd (BVI) as a business manager. , based in Bryanston Square, London*
*It is understood that Tun Daim has been interviewed at MACC Headquarters, Putrajaya.*
*According to sources, the current investigation is aimed at the extraordinary wealth owned by several individuals including former ministers and other dignitaries and their families, in addition to their links with offshore companies abroad.*
*MACC is also investigating the possibility of financial links owned, as a result of government tenders and projects. So far, no assets have been frozen by MACC.*
*Pandora Papers, among others mentions, about 12 Malaysian individuals, including four politicians, among dozens of heads of state, government and rulers from around the world who were found to be using offshore tax shelters to hide assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars, over 25 years then*.
*Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he was Leader of the Opposition once proposed to debate the disclosure of the Pandora Papers.*
*In the 2021 Parliament session, he was angry and even accused the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat of deliberately rejecting the motion, even claiming that Datuk Azhar Azizan acted as a 'lawyer' for the political leaders and businessmen linked in the report.*
*Anwar said that the Pandora Papers disclosure needs to be presented and debated immediately because there are allegations stating the amount of money from Malaysia kept abroad, reaching hundreds of billions of ringgit*.
*He said, it should be debated immediately because it not only involves the Pandora Papers, but also the 2012 Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report and the Panama Papers disclosure in 2015.*
*GFI and the Panama Papers, among others, revealed the illegal flow of money and money abroad amounting to RM1,800 billion from 2004 to 2015.*