PETALING JAYA: The iconic Ilham Tower (pic) has been seized again by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) – this time under a different Act.
The anti-graft body did so after receiving legal authorisation for the seizure from the deputy public prosecutor’s office.
The tower, owned by the family of the late former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, whose widow Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid is facing charges in court, had been seized in 2023 but the order expired recently.
With the new order, all dealings related to the 274m-tall tower’s transfer of ownership will be prohibited.
The MACC said it had ordered the immediate seizure of the 60-storey skyscraper under Section 51(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001.
“Through a notice of seizure of immovable property under the section on June 4, the authorisation for seizure was granted pursuant to the powers conferred upon the Public Prosecutor under Section 376(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593).
“This means the deputy public prosecutor is satisfied with the information provided by the MACC related to an offence under subsection 4(1) of the AMLATFPUAA 2001 for this case,” it said in a statement yesterday.
The tower was originally seized by the MACC in December 2023 due to an offence under the MACC Act 2009. That seizure order expired after 18 months.
The seizure is believed to be part of an anti-money laundering probe that started in late May this year over a RM2.3bil (US$500mil) corporate transaction in November 1997 involving public-listed Renong Bhd and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM), both Umno-linked entities.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Na’imah has issued a statement, labelling the seizure as “pure harassment”.
“The same building has already been seized by the MACC and yet, is now being seized again.
“In short, they want to keep seizing our client’s property even though there is no evidence of corruption.
“We will, on behalf of our client, challenge the seizure of Ilham Tower in court immediately,” said lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal.
On May 22, MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said eight investigation papers had been opened into the assets owned by Daim, his family and proxies, which had not been declared to the MACC during the initial 2023 investigation.
On Wednesday, the High Court allowed an application by the MACC to freeze £132mil worth of assets in London that were also allegedly linked to Na’imah and her family.
