'I will not bow to bullies': Daim's wife to fight asset seizure by MACC

Summary

• Na’imah Abdul Khalid vows to fight MACC’s latest seizure of her family’s assets in court.

• This comes after MACC obtained an ex parte order from the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday to seize seven properties worth RM758.2 million.

• Na’imah says seizing property without notice to its legal owners sets a dangerous precedent.

Irate over MACC’s latest move to seize more assets from her family, Daim Zainuddin’s wife Na’imah Abdul Khalid said she would challenge the matter in court.

“My lawyers will immediately challenge and set aside the order. This is to defend what should never be taken from any of us - our rights, our voice, and a country governed by law, not by fear,” she said in a statement today.

Calling MACC’s latest move as politically motivated and vindictive, Na’imah said she would use all legal means at her disposal to challenge it and vowed “to not bow down to bullies”.

“A line has been crossed. If we do not resist, there may soon be no lines left at all, then no Malaysian will be safe from the reach of unchecked power,” she added.

Yesterday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed the MACC to seize seven properties belonging to Daim’s family.

Among those seized, via an ex parte application, are three luxury homes in London and one bank account, said to be worth RM758.2 million.

The assets are among the items being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla) and Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amlatfpuaa).

Dangerous precedent

Unimpressed with the latest turn of events, Na’imah said she was not notified of MACC’s latest move and was only made aware of it through media reports.

Calling it an infringement of basic legal norms, she said the government’s move to seize property without notice to its legal owners set a dangerous precedent.

“MACC obtained this ex parte order secretly, and I was never given the chance to speak. I should have been allowed to have my say in court.

“In fact, there is no provision under the law authorising such an ex parte application to be made. And now they hide behind the cloak of legality to justify what is nothing short of institutionalised theft,” she claimed.

Na’imah also pointed out that the MACC acted in this manner despite not having proven that Daim, who died late last year, had committed an offence.

“The law under which the MACC is acting, which is Amla, requires that such orders only be granted where there is a ‘serious offence’ as defined under the Second Schedule.

“No such offence has ever been proven against me. No such charge has ever been brought against Daim. No such finding was ever made - not in his lifetime, and certainly not after his death,” she added.

However, Na’imah said the actions were rather unsurprising, referring to them as a natural consequence of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s continuous smear campaign against her family since 2022.

“Government bodies must not act upon their own whims. Is rumour, suspicion and political animus now enough to seize the assets and properties of citizens?” she asked.

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