The High Court has been informed that the freezing of assets and properties owned by former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin and his family by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) cannot be reviewed judicially. Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan argued that freezing orders are part of the discretionary powers given to law enforcement agencies and are not subject to judicial review.
The courts have previously upheld that exercises of these functions are not amenable to judicial review, according to Shamsul. He further stated that allowing Daim’s application for judicial review would obstruct the investigation process and open the door for challenges to other criminal investigations, leading to chaos and public disorder.
In response, SFC Liew Horng Bin accused Daim of conducting a “fishing expedition” before being charged in court. He said that if the court allowed Daim to proceed with the judicial review, MACC would have to disclose the reason for investigating him, a position that would be detrimental to the ongoing investigation.
On the other hand, Daim’s lawyer, Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, argued that MACC had unlawfully frozen the family’s accounts, raided and seized property, and failed to disclose the charges against them despite multiple requests by the family’s legal team.
MACC stated that the investigations were opened in 2023 following the release of the Pandora Papers and are related to offenses under the MACC Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act. They further stated that they had not disclosed the commission of any offense by Daim in Malaysia and have been unable to establish any offense through their investigation.
The High Court heard the submissions and set March 4 to deliver its decision on Daim’s application for leave to commence the judicial review against MACC’s probe. Daim and his family are seeking a declaration that the MACC’s actions were unlawful and unconstitutional and are requesting the return of their seized properties, assets, and money if any charges are to be made against them in the future. The family also wants an order to quash all investigations and cease all further investigations by the commission.
