AN office building in London linked to the family of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin has been withdrawn from sale, according to a Bloomberg report.
The building at 1 Crown Court on Cheapside, about 400m from St Paul’s Cathedral, had been put up for sale for £28.6 million (RM171 million) last year, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News.
Talks to close the deal collapsed after an outline deal was agreed with an investor earlier this year and, according to insiders, the property has since been withdrawn from sale.
Reports also said that filings from the UK Land Registry show the building is owned by a British Virgin Islands registered company called Straits Properties Limited.
The company is ultimately owned by a trust in which Daim’s wife is a beneficiary, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported in January.
A representative for the family declined to comment.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) seized a skyscraper owned by Daim’s family in Kuala Lumpur in December last year.
Daim called the MACC’s investigation against him and his family a “political witch-hunt.”
He called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and MACC chief Tan Sri Azam Baki to respect the rule of law and due process.
“I categorically deny any corrupt act or wrongdoing of whatsoever nature by myself or my family. This investigation is nothing short of a political witch-hunt against us,” he said.
Daim, who also headed the Council of Eminent Persons during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure as prime minister under the Pakatan Harapan government, claimed it was public knowledge that Anwar regarded him as a political threat and foe, leading to attempts to discredit him.
He said that since the beginning of this investigation, he has extended the fullest cooperation to the MACC and regularly communicated with them via his lawyers.
In January, Daim and his wife, Nai’mah Khalid, were charged with allegedly failing to declare assets under Malaysia’s anti-corruption law. They have pleaded not guilty.
Straits Properties bought the office building in 2014 for £31.5 million (RM189 million), land registry filings show. Daim served as Malaysia’s finance minister from 1984 to 1991, before which he had a career spanning banking, real estate development and law.
London real estate has long been a magnet for the global wealthy looking for a place to park their cash.
The UK has sought to clean up its reputation as a safety deposit box for investors with few real checks on their sources of wealth by introducing measures such as a register of overseas owners of UK property.
But the framework has various loopholes and has yet to lead to a meaningful increase in enforcement actions. – May 25, 2024
