Powerful Malaysian tycoon and politician Daim Zainuddin died on Wednesday morning at the age of 86 after a prolonged stay in hospital.
His final years were spent in a wheelchair and under the scrutiny of anti-corruption investigators who seized assets and charged him with a failure to disclose his vast wealth.
His lawyer, Gurdial Singh Nijar, confirmed the news. “We don’t know the full details yet, but he had been hospitalised for the last month,” he told This Week in Asia.
Daim had been released on bail after he and his wife, Naimah Khalid, were implicated in a high-profile corruption crackdown that they claimed was politically motivated – targeting rivals of current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
A key ally of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Daim served as finance minister from 1984 to 1991 and again from 1999 to 2001. Together, they oversaw Malaysia’s economic boom during the 1980s, a period when critics say crony capitalism ran rampant, enriching Mahathir’s close associates.
Daim’s wealth was extensive, with business interests ranging from banking to hospitality and real estate. However, his fortunes took a turn when anti-corruption authorities seized the family’s prized Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur’s central business district as part of their investigations.
