KUALA LUMPUR: Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin said that he could have become the wealthiest man in the country if he had not ventured into politics in 1980.
The former politician claimed his decision to join the government and serve the country resulted in a significant financial loss to him and his family.
Daim made this assertion in the supporting affidavit filed as part of a judicial review application challenging the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) probe into his financial dealings.
Daim, who also headed the Council of Eminent Persons during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's time as prime minister under the Pakatan Harapan administration, also described how he accumulated all his wealth before entering politics and becoming a minister.
"In or about 1969, I ventured into business and founded, together with other shareholders, a company known as Syarikat Maluri Sdn Bhd, whose business was property development.
"It was responsible for developing the townships of Taman Maluri and Taman Bukit Maluri in Kuala Lumpur, covering over 1 square mile of the city centre.
"At today's valuation, the land alone would be worth over RM 26 billion.
"I was also an owner of a bank, the Malaysian French Bank, and subsequently UMBC (now RHB).
"I also had controlling or substantial interests in many public listed companies such as SimeUEP (now Sime Darby), Guthrie, TV3, Maybank, Consplant, Cold Storage and Nestle Malaysia, to name a few.
"My 10 per cent stake in Nestle Malaysia is today worth approximately RM 3 billion," he said.
Daim said before joining the Malaysian Cabinet, he was told that he could transfer all of his investments into a blind trust, to which he agreed.
"However, about a year or so afterwards, the Cabinet made a directive that I had to liquidate my investments in the publicly listed companies and UMBC.
"At that point, my liquid assets stood at over RM750 million (US$250 million).
"If I had put that amount into an S&P 500 index fund in 1984, today's value would be over RM42 billion.
"If I had stayed in business and done nothing to grow these assets actively, the value of my liquid stock holdings alone would be worth over RM50 billion today.
"That is my personal cost today in my decision to join the government," he claimed.
According to the 2023 Forbes list of Malaysia's 50 Richest, Tan Sri Robert Kuok held the top spot for more than a quarter-century and is one of just two people on the list with a fortune in excess of US$11.8 billion.
Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, executive chairman of the Malaysian part of the privately held Hong Leong Group, ranks second on the list with US$10.2 billion.
Daim also questioned the MACC's probe against him by claiming that the anti-graft body refused to disclose the nature of the undisclosed complaint made against him.
He claimed that he was in the dark about the nature of the MACC's probe, except for news reports claiming that the probe was linked to the Pandora Papers.
"It should be noted at the outset that the Pandora Papers only relate to information regarding the ownership of offshore companies in these 'tax havens' and the assets held therein.
"The files themselves do not assert any wrongdoing on the part of those named. No offences are committed, to my knowledge, by the mere ownership of such foreign assets.
"The names of well-known Malaysians and their family members were also published in the Pandora Papers.
"This included Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, and Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib (Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud's son).
"To my knowledge, they (Zahid and Tengku Zafrul) were not similarly investigated or questioned by the MACC, nor was any action taken against them," he claimed.