Najib with Anwar stirring Daim Zainuddin's abuse of position to stop Mahathir

The beauty lies in stirring things up a bit, creating a momentary, controlled squall rather than staying with the unmoving, frozen scene it surroundsInstead of blowing like a gale, they prefer to whirl in stillness. Why try to impose city discipline on a forest? Neither, as we said, is good or bad. They just are. And we should let them be…

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim today said he would disclose all the "proof" that he has - regarding former finance minister Daim Zainuddin's alleged abuse of position to amass wealth - to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC),

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is willing to cooperate with the Malaysian anti-graft body if it investigates former finance minister

 Anwar cautioned that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must carry out its duties professionally. "If they ask me, I will give my cooperation, no problem. It is my responsibility to help facilitate investigations. But they have to be professional," he said after a dialogue with Selangor youth in Petaling Jaya today 

He said he had "proof" of Daim's alleged abuse of powers but it was shelved. However, he did not elaborate on the statement, although he said MACC should not focus its investigations solely on Daim's banking business. - 

the real Daim is. He is famous for being taciturn. Everyone knows that Daim is the silent type; so silent, in fact, that the victims of his scheming and conniving have fallen like ten pins without ever knowing what hit them. He has, on the quiet, made a career of shooting poison darts, laying booby traps. and knifing friend or foe in the back. His hand is never seen, but his mark is everywhere. Truth to tell, he has been at the root of many national crises, but his name has never been smudged, thanks to the wealth he wields and his bond of friendship with Dr. Mahathir.

Most members of Umno’s new generation are aware that Daim is an acquisitive millionaire and a macho man with a taste of young women, but they concede him these weaknesses because they see in him a clean and competent Economic Adviser to the Government. But the generation of Harun Idris, Musa Hitam and Manan Othman to name just a few of the old hands – they are the ones to ask in order to discover who the real Daim is. It was Datuk Harun who plucked Daim up from the depths of failure in the salt business. Daim’s wife, Mahani and Harun’s wife, Salmah were good friends and an influential pair in the early 1970s. It was wife power that moved Harun to give Daim 160 acres of prime Kampung Pandan land. And thus Syarikat Maluri was born.

There is no use speculating over how much Daim paid Harun. After all, the two were fast friends. For the gory details, just ask Low Kiok Bow or Thamby Chik. They can relate how Daim cheated a land broker and greased Selangor state executive councillor and Mahathir’s brother-in-law, Ahmad Razali for that piece of land.

Of course, Daim still had to pay for the land. In those days, it was not easy to borrow from a bank. Hence, he was forced to corrupt Bank Bumiputra. Lorraine Osman and Rais Saniman know how much he spent. Manan Othman can no doubt confirm the figure, he was so close to Daim that they tried to share a girl friend, with Manan often borrowing the bedroom at Daim’s office in Taman Maluri.

Daim’s elevation as Senator and, subsequently, Minister of Finance, was part of Mahathir’s strategic plan. Mahathir’s choice should surprise no one, after all the two were intimate friends from the same kampung in Seberang Perak, Alor Setar. Upon becoming Prime Minister on 16 July, 1981, the first thing on Mahathir’s mind was how to sideline his archenemy, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Daim told everyone he had no interest in politics, but all the while he was confident of getting the Finance Minister’s job after a stint with the Senate. A few months after joining the Senate, Daim became Chairman of Fleet, which owned the New Straits Times. In 1984, he finally got his dream job and became the third most important man in the Federal Cabinet, after the Prime Minister and his deputy.

Musa Hitam, the Deputy Prime Minister, was at first oblivious of the closet ties between Mahathir and Daim. Innocently, he expressed to Mahathir his disquiet over Daim’s wheeling and dealing, particularly his award of projects and contracts to his own associates and cronies. It must have baffled him when his complaints fell on deaf ears although he was Deputy Prime Minister, he has no say when it came to economic matters, particularly privatisation and the assignment (to supporters) of economic projects. How disappointed Musa must have been to find that Daim could not care less about his effort to help his supporters secure some projects or contracts. Daim succeeded in making millionaires of such cronies of Wan Azmi, Halim Saad, Tajuddin Ramli,
Samsuddin Hassan, Razali Rahman and Tan Sri Basir, but Musa in the end was cast off as a poor ex-DPM. Musa once complained to Mahathir that Daim had stolen a number of supporters’ project proposals, but again Mahathir ignored him. These were the first acts in the eventual breakup of the Mahathir-Musa partnership. As the interests of Mahathir and Razaleigh bloated, Musa got squeezed out.

Many Umno members assume that Razaleigh is Musa’s number one enemy. In fact, the reason for the 1986 split in Umno must fall on Daim. It was he who drove Musa to the edge until he had no choice but to resign. Again, Daim’s man of few words demeanour to his advantage. Few knew of his behind-the-scenes role in that Umno rupture not many more know it today. One really should not wonder why Musa called a truce Razaleigh and the two decided to collaborate in the 1987 fight, the one that eventually caused Umno to be outlawed. At that time, Daim was almost invincible, what support coming from such strongmen as Sanusi Junid and Anwar Ibrahim. The comradeship of the three was rock solid, and the Musa-Razaleigh camp could do nothing except to make a joke of it by giving them the nicknames AIDS.

The formation of the new Umno, Daim and Mahathir had first to get rid of the Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas. Again, Daim was the chief plotter in the sacking of the pious and respected Tun Salleh, and his replacement with Tun Hamid Omar, a playboy and chronic gambler, but Mahathir’s and Daim’s schoolmate. The appointment of Tun Hamid Omar triggered the collapse of the integrity and the independence of the judiciary.

Finance Minister, Daim persuaded Mahathir to give the Economic Planning Unit and Treasury full power in implementing the privatisation policy. Hence, it was no longer necessary to call for tenders for government projects. Instead, the projects were awarded directly to favoured companies. And so began the era of wealth accumulation by him and his cohorts. The United Engineers Company, bought for RM2, changed into a multi-million- ringgit corporation. As Finance Minister, Daim practically ordered banks to lend to companies that he himself owned. And no Daim crony every complained of difficulty in securing bank credit. Indeed, bankers lived in fear of Daim. Having appointed Wan Azmi and Basir to head Malayan Banking and Bank Bumiputra, he would give any project to any of his cronies because funding was not an issue.
If those physical projects were not enough, Daim also took every opportunity to take wealth from the share market as well. Every time the Treasury approved a company for listing on the stock exchange, Daim cronies received their lion’s shares. That was how Southern Bank, Resort World, Sports Toto, Berjaya, Tanjong and scores of other blue chip firms landed with Daim and Company. Once, when share values were high, Daim boasted among friends that his visible wealth alone totalled RM65 billion. To shut the mouth of Barisan Nasional leaders, Daim gave lucrative projects to Samy Vellu and Ling Liong Sik so that their children could be big-shots in batches.

Daim managed to fool Umno members into believing that Mahathir would not let him go although he had asked to be relieved of his Cabinet post on a number of occasions. With Musa and Razaleigh out of the picture, Daim could grab as much wealth as he wanted without even Mahathir stopping him. Besides, he was Umno’s treasurer and he could make it look as if the companies he controlled were those in which the party had a stake.

Daim’s avarice damaged not only his own image as finance minister, but also Mahathir’s and Malaysia ‘s reputation with the international community. It is said that he used to demand exorbitant fees for himself in negotiating contracts involving foreign suppliers. The chairmen of Japan ‘s two biggest banks – the Bank of Tokyo and Sanwa Bank – once complained to Mahathir that his Finance Minister demanded commissions that were too high when negotiating yen loans. Margaret Thatcher, too, has complained about Daim’s role as a commissioned agent. He had – or still has – accounts in Zurich , London , Hong Kong, Tokyo , Singapore , Caymen Island , Channel Island and Virgin Island . Indeed, instead of keeping his billions in Malaysia , he has stashed them overseas.
With his immense wealth and far-reaching influence, Daim eventually became a burden that Mahathir could no longer bear. In every deal he made, there was something in it for himself. It was not beneath him even to conspire with Lee Kuan Yew to snatch KTM land in Singapore . The Malaysian Cabinet had no knowledge of this. But this issue of Malaysia being cheated by Lee Kuan Yew and Daim is far from over.

Mahathir eventually realised that he had to end Daim’s lordship over the Finance Ministry. And so he told him to quit.

Mahathir worried that if Daim continued as Finance Minister, complaints would come not only from Vincent Tan, Ananda Krishnan, Arumugam and other members of the Malaysian business elite, but also from foreign leaders. Signs of a Daim-related scandal were ominous and it could break anytime in Japan or Britain , therefore, Daim had to go.

Daim’s resignation was planned such that it would not appear as if he had been sacked. Indeed, it does not make sense why a powerful Finance Minister, rich and in control of so many public companies, would suddenly quit simply because he had lost interest in the job. The truth is that he was ordered to resign. Observers will recall that Mahathir’s first comment on the so-called reaction was, ‘He has asked several times for permission to resign, and I have finally allowed it. I hope Daim would not leave the country after resigning’. That statement was pregnant with meaning. Mahathir knew Daim was sulking. So did Anwar and Sanusi. Mahathir retained Daim as Umno Treasurer for a good reason, he wanted to ensure the safety of Umno money, a lot of which was under Daim’s control.

But Daim who holds so many of Mahathir’s secrets, is only a sly one. After resigning, he ran off to live in his San Francisco residence. He told the Malaysian public he wanted to study at Harvard, but in fact he wanted to leave Malaysia . Mahathir, who was familiar with Daim’s antics, pleaded with him to come back, saying he need him to advise on economic matters. Daim returned and announced that Mahathir had named him Economic Adviser to the Government. Rafidah asked Mahathir to confirm this, but all she got was silence. Daim was never formally appointed as Economic Adviser, a post which Tun Raj a Mohar once held. The appointment is the prerogative of the Public Services Department. Daim gave himself the job. To keep Daim happy, Mahathir allowed him to open an office at the Economic Planning Unit, and this strengthened the public perception that he was still in control as far as economic affairs were concerned.

When he was to told to resign as Finance Minister, Daim asked Mahathir to appoint Anwar Ibrahim to the job. Obviously, he thought this would help to ensure that his skeletons would remain closeted. He warned Mahathir of the peril that Rafidah would be to both of them: the secrets they shared would be uncovered. Daim also persuaded Mahathir to appoint Mustapha Mohammad as Anwar’s deputy because these two could be depended on to fill up the holes he had left gaping. Anwar is nobody’s fool, but he sacrificed his idealism to protect his towkay.

As far as we know, no Finance Minster in this world has retired a billionaire, except Daim. In the book Daim yang Diam: Sebuah Biographi (Daim the Silent: A Biography), Daim explains his retirement: ‘I am happy in retirement. It was too heavy a responsibility. In truth, I love the business world. Business is in my blood. I love to make money. I know how to do it. I can do it just by sitting in this chair. On a lucky day, I can make millions.’

Friend of Soros

According to an internal bank analysis, collaborated by the corporate community, and from Daim crony Amin Shah, Daim’s wealth, in ringgit and foreign currencies kept overseas currently amounts to RM20 billion. With so much money at his disposal, Daim can manipulate the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. He showed his hand in 1991, just to prove how much influence he wielded. After selling off his stocks, he made a statement to the effect that the market would crash. And crash it did. As we can all recall, even Mahathir could not help but make a wry remark when Daim boasted that he invested in KLSE only for pocket money. But to his good friend, Daim said he could turn in profit on RM90 million a day when the market was up. When the market plummeted in October 1991 Daim bought back his share on the cheap. When the market turned bullish again 1995 and 1996, Daim made billions of ringgit from it. This, then, is what the work of an economic adviser amounts to.

So it turns out that Soros is not the only big time market manipulator and currency dealer. Daim met Soros twice in London when the ringgit was being hotly traded. Anyway, when the ringgit fell below RM4 to the US dollar, Mahathir asked Daim for help and, according to a source in Singapore, he lost RM1 billion trying to prop up the Malaysian currency. To lose that much in currency trading, imagine how much money he had at his disposal.

The falls in currency and share values put Mahathir in a feverish panic. He knew his policies and his own belligerent attitude were partly to blame. Seeing Mahathir in such a frenzied state, Daim recommended that he declare a state of emergency to enable him to restore the economy and at the same time, bury the corpses that were beginning to stink. We hail the Chief Secretary to the Government and the Solicitor-General for opposing the move.. If Daim’s plan had been followed, Mahathir would turn dictator and the Malaysian economy would be utterly ruined. Having failed to declare an emergency, Mahathir set up the National Economic Action Council, headed by Daim, with the Economic Planning Unit as its Secretariat. The original plan was to give the NEAC complete autonomy, but the Cabinet ministers opposed this for fear that they would lose any vestige of power they had left. Eventually, the council became merely an advisory body, with the Cabinet having final say on its recommendations.

The establishment of the council was a wedge between Anwar and Daim. Thus, two old friends who had together stood behind Mahathir against Musa were now turned against each other. All of the council’s recommendations were rejected by the Cabinet and Bank Negara. Daim openly assailed Bank Negara for dismissing his proposals, such as those relating to interest rates and credit control. We salute the Bank Negara Governor for maintaining a prudent monetary policy in the face of Daim’s bullying and insults. Unlike Daim and his cohorts, Bank Negara’s officials are not self-serving. Daim’s appointment to the NEAC was a major national mistake.

Going by press reports of its deliberations so far, the NEAC’s sole preoccupation is with saving mega corporations from bankruptcy. No doubt, these are Daim-related companies. Daim has yet to show any concern over the rise in the price of chillies, or the leaps in fish prices or how the price of rice has boiled over. Neither has he talked about small businesses in their death throes. Class F contractors going bankrupt or kampung road projects being abandoned. In his dictionary, there are no entries for the small man’s worries, nothing about low-cost houses, water cuts or study funds for the children of poor Malays. In fact, it contains only billion size figures. While the Malaysian economy is close to ruin, Daim remains a billionaire, living a life of glamour, jet setting with his new wife Naimah and the attractive Josephine , an Indian lass who helps him run one of his firms, the International Malaysian Bank.

We have merely given a sketch of who the real Daim is. A thorough account will soon be available in book form. We recommend the book to Umno members, especially those with big ambitions, because they will learn much from its fantastic but true tales of economic and political intrigues. We denounce the likes of Vincent Tan and Tan Phek Khiing for land-grabbing, but perhaps we should ask the Menteri Besar of Johor and the Menteri Besar of Kedah how much land Daim has taken. Ask Sanusi how much Daim paid to the Kedah government for 12,000 acres in Sungai Petani and how much profit he made from them. For 12,000 acres, Osman Arof had to be sacrificed. The true story of the Daim-Sanusi conspiracy in Kedah will be exposed in the book.

Umno is at a crossroads and has to decide wisely where it is going. One road heads to glory, where stability and democratic practice will abide. The other leads to division, autocracy and ultimately, utter destruction. The call for reform, which used to be made only in whispers at small, secretive gatherings, is becoming louder. Umno members, showing that they can no longer contain their restiveness and frustration, have begun to openly debate the need for change, even at party conventions. Can there be a clearer indication that they have reached their tether’s end, that they can no longer stomach the leadership’s undemocratic attitude and the prevalence – whether in the party or the government – of favouritism, cronyism, nepotism, graft and other misdeeds? Malay nationalism is dead and materialism and egoism are running amok.

We cannot depend on the Umno Supreme Council to initiate reform because few of the members have the guts to speak up. In fact, the council has lately been transformed into a monologue theatre. But of course even a monologue can flop without good supporting players – fools, clowns, jesters, attendants and the oh-so- important flatterers. As far as these bit players are concerned, Umno’s ideals and principles are not as important as their jobs. This keep-your-mouth- shut syndrome serves only to embolden the party leadership in its conceit, arrogance and haughtiness. A president has become a dictator. Woe are the Malays and Umno. What is to become of them? That is a question only Umno members can answer.

Opposition politicians had previously urged anti-graft authorities to investigate Daim, with PKR's Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin in November last year highlighting the lack of police action against the former finance minister despite a police report lodged in 1999.

Anwar had lodged that report 15 years ago, accusing Daim of amassing billions of ringgit in African and Eastern Europe banks through proxies.

Three days ago, Daim had expressed his willingness to cooperate with MACC, but stressed that pressure groups should not interfere.

In a statement to state news agency Bernama, Daim had said he was confident the MACC would be able to carry out the probe.

"I stand ready to support and cooperate with MACC in its investigation," he said in the statement.

It was reported previously that Daim had confirmed owning a bank in Tanzania, but denied any abuse of power.

Daim was quoted by the news report as saying that he had been investigated on the matter twice in 1999, and they found nothing.

Pro-Umno bloggers recently reported that Daim had been attacked by cybertroopers aligned to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for criticising Putrajaya's handling of the economy.

Daim, along with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have emerged as strong critics of Najib's administration over his handling of the economy and national politics.

In what is seen as a psychological war, Najib's supporters in the press and online portals have been attacking Daim with critical articles.

But veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin warned a few days ago that the Umno-controlled media group, Media Prima Bhd, should stop sniping at Daim as it could backfire on Najib.

Najib was more vulnerable to personal attacks than Daim and other critics, Kadir, the retired editor of the New Straits Times Press group, said in his blog.

"The cheap shots about Mohd Najib's critics might smear their image but these people are not the PM and they don't have political positions," said Kadir, referring to the PM by his full name.

"But the juicier stories about Mohd Najib, if there is, can topple him," Kadir said.

Besides opposition lawmakers, Daim and Dr Mahathir, even pro-Umno bloggers who had supported Najib to be prime minister were now becoming critical of him.

Najib took over from former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April 2008 after the loss of Barisan Nasional's two-thirds majority in the March general election that year.

Among others, Najib has been criticised for his cash aid programme, the 1Malaysia People’s Aid or BR1M, which Dr Mahathir said failed to attract voters back to BN, in addition to being unsustainable.

Najib's brainchild, the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) strategic development fund, also came under scrutiny for its massive debts and opaque operations.

Malaysia's mainstream media, which must have a government permit, have not highlighted the criticism against Najib but instead have cast aspersions on the complaints about his rule.

"So they try to weaken Daim's credibility and at the same time, force a clash between Mohd Najib and Daim," Kadir said.

Malaysia’s highest court has written a new chapter in one of the country’s most spectacular and controversial crimes by condemning two of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s former bodyguards to death for the 2006 murder of Mongolian translator and international party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu.

With considerable luck and a determined judiciary, there could be a coda. The question is whether the verdict, reversing a 2013 appellate court ruling that freed the men, will impel Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azahar Umar to tell the full story of the crime. Who offered to pay them RM50,000 to RM100,000  (US$13,900-27,800) to “settle the case,” as Sirul said in a sworn confession that was never introduced in court despite the fact that Sirul had been read his rights and the statement appeared to be in order? The court never asked nor heard an answer to that question.

The guilty verdict shocked political circles in Kuala Lumpur. It had been expected that the Federal Court, which is closely aligned with the ruling Barisan Nasional and its leading party, the United Malays National Organization, would simply ratify the appellate court’s acquittal, given that the not guilty verdict had been issued without any particular controversy besides cynicism 16 months ago.

“It certainly is an uncharacteristic decision although a correct one,” said a longtime western observer based in Kuala Lumpur. “On the surface it does appear to be something that wouldn’t please Najib. It’s worth noting however that it was the government prosecutors who were asking the court to overturn the acquittal.”

 Onetime US Ambassador to Malaysia John Malott called Altantuya “the woman who knew too much” and added on Facebook that “the fact that Malaysia’s courts, which are highly politicized, made this decision spells the beginning of the end for Najib.”

The Prime Minister, despite being photographed playing golf last month with US President Barack Obama, has been floundering politically in recent months, with Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister who left office in 2003, having stepped up efforts to get rid of him. Muhyiddin Yassin, the Deputy Prime Minister, is said to be in Mahathir’s camp.

The verdict has also raised hopes on the part of Altantuya’s family and such groups as the human rights organization Suaram, which has pushed the case both in France and Malaysia, that it might be possible to get to the bottom of who ordered her murder.  Many critics have pointed out that Azilah and Sirul had never met the woman and had no reason to kill her except for hire.

The affair peripherally involved allegations that €114 million in bribes were paid by the French munitions maker DCN and funneled to UMNO as the result of a US$1 billion purchase of submarines. Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib’s closest friends, was an agent for the deal. Altantuya, 28 when she died, was Razak Baginda’s lover and had performed a minor role in the deal as a translator.

The case struggled through the courts for eight years before today’s verdict. The two, from the elite Special Action Force, had been assigned to Najib’s office as bodyguards. Although Azilah showed up for the verdict in the Federal Court, Sirul was nowhere to be seen.  He has repeatedly told others he was a scapegoat and there were reports that he may have left the country and was reported to be  in Australia. His lawyer, who represented him in court, said he hadn’t heard from his client since last June after the appellate court’s acquittal.

Altantuya, who is believed to have been pregnant at the time of her death, helped translate in the late stages of the purchase of the Scorpene submarines by the Malaysian Ministry of Defense. According to a note found after her death, she had come to Malaysia from Mongolia to “blackmail” US$500,000 from Razak Baginda. According to a sworn statement by the late private detective Perumal Balasubramaniam, Razak Baginda “inherited” the woman’s affections from Najib, who wanted to get rid of her before becoming Prime Minister. Razak Baginda apparently also grew tired of her after a whirlwind trip through Europe.

With Altantuya standing outside his home and demanding to see him, Razak Baginda, as he acknowledged in a sworn statement, called Najib’s aide de camp, Musa Safri, and asked for help in getting rid of her in October of 2006.  A police car swooped down in front of his house and she was taken away and never seen alive again. She was dragged from a car in a patch of jungle near the suburban city of Shah Alam.

According to Sirul’s statement, as she begged for her life and that of her unborn child, the two shot her in the head, wrapped her body in C4 explosives, and blew her up, possibly to destroy the DNA of the fetus. Her bones were found later after the two bodyguards led officials to them.

After a 159-day trial that ended in April of 2009 – in which all efforts were made by both sides to keep the names of prominent figures hidden – the court ordered the two bodyguards to be hanged. Substantial evidence connected Najib to the case, including text messages to Razak Baginda assuring him not to worry and saying Najib would fix things.

The two bodyguards were later acquitted on a technicality in 2013. Despite his involvement in the case, charges against Razak Baginda were dismissed by the trial judge without a defense. He subsequently left Malaysia for an extended period although he has been seen in Kuala Lumpur.

The story began with Najib’s whirlwind tenure as Defense Minister, during which he sought to update the country’s defense capability through the purchase of submarines, patrol boats and Russian fighter jets.  All of the purchases were later suspected of involving substantial kickbacks and bribes.

French prosecutors looking into massive bribery and kickbacks on the part of the government-owned DCN in half a dozen countries found voluminous evidence of the involvement of French officials up to then-Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in the case, and spelled out that the €114 million “commission,” paid to Razak Baginda’s wholly-owned company, Perimekar Bhd, was to be steered to UMNO.

Another €36 million was routed through a Hong Kong shelf company called Terasasi Ltd., wholly owned by Razak Baginda and his father