KUALA LUMPUR: Toh Puan Na'imah Khalid was today charged with failure to declare her assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The wife of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, however, pleaded not guilty to the offence before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi.
The offence falls under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act which carries a maximum of five years imprisonment and a RM100,000 fine upon conviction.
According to the charge sheet, the 67-year-old failed to comply with an MACC notice to declare her assets such as:
* Companies — Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd and Ilham Baru Sdn Bhd;
* Luxury vehicles — Mercedes Benz EQC400 and Mercedes Benz 500SL;
* Properties — Menara Ilham, official residence in Bukit Tunku, four freehold pieces of land and buildings near Bukit Tunku as well as freehold land and building near Jalan Anthinahapan and Jalan Cantoment Road in Penang.
The offence falls under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act which carries a maximum five years' imprisonment and RM100,000 fine upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Feisal Mohd Ali asked the court to impose RM500,000 bail against Na'imah.
"The accused also needs to surrender her passport until the disposal of the case," he said.
However, former solicitor-general II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin, who appeared for Na'imah, pleaded for minimum bail by stating that his client was not a flight risk.
"Her house is just behind this building... this case also does not involve any criminal element," he said.
The court set RM250,000 bail with one surety and allowed the prosecution's additional bail condition.
Azura also fixed March 22 for next hearing.
Yesterday, Na'imah had, in a statement, lamented the fact that the MACC had insisted that she be charged today despite Daim being hospitalised and scheduled to undergo a medical procedure.
She had said a team of MACC officers suddenly arrived at the hospital and demanded to record her statement despite having already taken her statement earlier on Jan 10.
She had also said she had asked for the charge to be done tomorrow, the day after Daim completes his medical procedure, but this was refused.
Na'imah and her two sons, Amir and Amin, on Jan 10, were summoned to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya to have their statements recorded.
MACC had said this was done to ascertain the worth of some of the high-value assets in the country and abroad held under the companies belonging to the family in relation to the probe on Daim.
The commission had said a notice was served to Daim under Section 36(1)(a) of the MACC Act 2009, on June 7 last year while his family members were served notices under Section 36(1)(b) of the same act.
The family's lawyers had described the entire questioning as "one giant fishing expedition", aimed at gathering information to charge Daim.
