High Court suspends order to freeze £132mil assets linked to late Daim's wife

New Straits Times

7 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today suspended its earlier order to freeze assets worth over £132 million (about RM758.2 million) owned by Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid in London.
Judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid today stayed his earlier ruling that granted the ex-parte order to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) earlier this month.
An ex-parte application is a legal request made to the court by one party without notifying or involving the other party.
Azhar also granted July 9 to hear the wife of the late Tun Daim Zainuddin's application to intervene the case.
"This application to be an intervener should be heard inter-parte. The application should be filed and served within 14 days," he said.
The MACC had applied to freeze the assets claiming they were potentially linked to offences under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
Among the assets are two commercial buildings totalling £55,200,000; five luxury residences totalling £77,115,000 and a bank account owned by Ilham Foundation.
In a separate court, judge K. Muniandy will hear Na'imah's application to intervene in the MACC's ex-parte application to freeze more than RM544 million in investment funds held in Singapore.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Wan Nur Iman Wan Ahmad Afzal in an ex-parte application requested the court to grand an order to freeze the RM544,674,050.97 involving 12 accounts belonging to Na'imah and her family members.
"Preliminary investigation shows that these assets were obtained by Na'imah from income sources within Malaysia.
"She never declared the assets and we are seeking to restrict them for a period of one year.
"The assets derived from investments in USD and Pound Sterling. We requested that this application be allowed and that the assets be frozen to prevent the risk of them being disposed of," he said.
Lawyer Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar who represented Na'imah urged the court to dismiss the ex-parte application on grounds that the public prosecutor had failed to name a respondent in the case.
"The person holding the property is directly affected, and the order effectively prohibits them from dealing with the property.
"Before such an order can be made, the individual must be named as a party and be given the opportunity to contest it.
"The Public Prosecutor must name the affected party for the order to be valid. It cannot be obtained ex parte. It must be an inter partes proceeding," he said.
Gurdial said this pattern of practice by the prosecution amounts to a breach of natural justice.
"A person is entitled to be heard. You are dealing with properties outside the jurisdiction and seeking forfeiture with the assistance of the foreign jurisdiction.
"That is a very drastic and far-reaching remedy. It should not be resorted to in situations like this, especially when the respondents or parties are not even named," he said.
The court set Aug 1 to hear Na'imah's bid to intervene in the case.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki reportedly said that eight new investigation papers related to Tun Daim Zainuddin's family have been opened as part of the probe into properties valued at over RM2 billion.
He said the commission had been conducting a probe into Daim since February 2023 and had opened several investigation papers, including the latest ones initiated recently.
Daim died on Nov 12, last year, at the age of 86.
Following his passing, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court discharged and acquitted him of charges related to failing to comply with a notice under Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).