Wife of former Malaysian finance minister Daim Zainuddin charged ...

KUALA LUMPUR: The wife of former Malaysian finance minister Daim Zainuddin has been charged in court for failing to declare assets, including the multimillion-dollar Ilham Tower.

Na'imah Abdul Khalid, 66, pleaded not guilty in a Kuala Lumpur sessions court on Tuesday (Jan 23).

She is accused of deliberately giving a written statement under oath that did not comply with the terms of a notice from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The undeclared assets include Ilham Tower, the companies Ilham Tower and Ilham Baru, two Mercedes-Benz cars and several properties in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

She faces up to five years' jail and a fine of up to RM100,000 (US$21,117) if found guilty.

"No crime was committed by me and I will prove this in court," Na'imah said in a statement outside the court.

"The real crime is the plot to tarnish my husband's reputation. The real crime is the wielding of state power for personal ends and not for the benefit of the people."

She directed a message to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, saying "power is brief and there is always a reckoning for those who abuse it".

Na'imah was granted bail of RM250,000 with one surety and ordered to surrender her passport to the court. 

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Feisal earlier requested the court to set bail of RM500,000 with one surety and for Na’imah to report herself at the MACC headquarters once a month in addition to also surrendering her passport. 

However, Na’imah’s lawyer Mohd Yusof applied for a lower bail and objected to the prosecution’s request for his client to surrender her passport, saying that she was not a flight risk.

"Na'imah is not involved in any criminal case that makes her a 'flight risk' and she lives (at her residence) just behind this court. She is not going anywhere and she is here to fight the case," he said.

Daim, a businessman, is also under investigation by the anti-graft agency. He has called the probe into his affairs a "political witch-hunt".

CNA reported in December that Ilham Tower was seized after the 85-year-old refused to declare his and his family's financial holdings.

According to MACC, the investigation into Daim was based on information obtained from the Pandora Papers leak in 2021. Investigations were opened in February last year.

Daim had said in the wake of the leak that his business dealings, as revealed in the papers, were legitimate. He added that he was a “successful and wealthy” businessman long before he entered politics and that taxes had been fully paid for his businesses and income.