Life goes on at tower despite seizure

Business as usual: Office workers walking in front of the entrance to Menara Ilham, a day after being seized by the MACC. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) seizure of Menara Ilham making headlines, it was just another day at the office for employees of the many companies based at the 60-storey tower owned by the family of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin.

The public and employees of the various companies housed there were seen entering and exiting the building at the heart of the city as usual.

There were no notices of the seizure put up at the building or the Ilham Gallery. Business also seemed to be going on as usual at the tower’s Element Hotel. 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,” he said.

Another employee said he was initially worried after reading news of the seizure. “My laptop was in the building. I was worried I would not be able to go in.”

While members of the media gathered at the building as early as 8am yesterday, there were no signs of enforcement officers taking charge.

The MACC had seized the tower after it found that an offence had been committed under the MACC Act 2009. A notice dated Dec 18 from the MACC was published on local media on the seizure.

In May this year, MACC said it was gathering information involving the alleged misappropriation of RM2.3bil by a former minister and businessman. The probe was reportedly linked to the “Pandora Papers” leak by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The Pandora Papers refer to millions of documents leaked online in 2021, which allegedly revealed offshore accounts of present and past leaders from around the world.

The 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 Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and billionaire Robert Kuok, among others.