Malaysia’s anti-graft agency turns up the heat on Singaporean businessman over decades-old multi-million dollar transactions
Singaporean businessman and prominent Malaysia property developer Akbar Khan is under investigation on allegations of money laundering and corruption by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
MACC investigators temporarily detained Mr Akbar, who is the main shareholder of high-end developer BRDB Developments Sdn Bhd, for questioning last week after raiding his home and business premise in the capital Kuala Lumpur, senior sources from the agency and lawyers familiar with the situation told CNA.
Apart from freezing the business and personal accounts of the businessman, the MACC also ordered Mr Akbar to declare his assets and the financial holdings of his family, the sources added.
The 83-year-old Mr Akbar declined to comment on the MACC probe when contacted by CNA.
“As this is an ongoing matter, we refrain from commenting on specific details. Our primary focus remains on ensuring a fair investigation,” noted a spokesperson in Mr Akbar’s office.
MACC sources said the businessman is expected to be recalled by the agency for more questioning in the coming days together with other former close associates.
They played crucial roles in the repatriation of frozen shares valued at US$4 billion that were once listed in Singapore’s now-defunct over-the-counter market that traded mainly in Malaysian shares called Central Limit Order Book, or CLOB, and a controversial transaction involving the change of shareholding at conglomerate Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd (MPHB) in the late 1990s and 2000.
Mr Akbar is the latest in a growing cast of business personalities who have been ensnared in the MACC’s widening investigation on former finance minister Daim Zainuddin.
Related:
Malaysia's ex-finance minister Daim Zainuddin pleads not guilty to asset disclosure charge | Video
Former Malaysian finance minister Daim Zainuddin to be charged with failing to declare assets
Former Malaysian finance minister Daim Zainuddin files legal action challenging anti-graft investigations
The probe into Daim’s financial affairs began in May 2023 and is shaping up to be one of Malaysia’s most extensive corporate corruption crackdowns. He was charged on Jan 29 with failing to comply with a notice to declare his assets under the country's anti-corruption laws.
ADVERTISEMENT
FRIENDSHIP FORGED WITH DAIM
Mr Akbar, a trained accountant, forged his friendship with Daim in the late 1980s, during Daim’s first stint as finance minister between 1984 and 1991.
But it was during Daim’s second stint as finance minister from early 1999 that Mr Akbar’s commercial fortunes took an upward quantum leap from low-profile medium-sized investments in real estate and luxury goods retailing, into the upper echelons of Malaysia’s corporate scene.
It was a time when Malaysian politics and the economy were in turmoil from the aftershocks of the regional financial crisis that had buffeted several Southeast Asian economies. Then-Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had sacked his deputy premier and finance minister Anwar Ibrahim over serious policy differences on how to manage the crisis that was ravaging the businesses of several politically-connected personalities including the then-premier’s own children.
In a bid to shield the domestic economy, the embattled Dr Mahathir implemented several bold and controversial policy counter-measures that provided opportunities to Mr Akbar.
BIG BREAK IN 1999
Mr Akbar’s first big break came in early 1999, when he secured tacit government backing to acquire control of MPHB, a diversified conglomerate that has interests in banking, insurance, property development, and gaming and lottery. The deal immediately attracted controversy for a number of reasons.
ADVERTISEMENT
Firstly, the transaction was widely seen at the time as a state-led corporate shakedown of businesses owned by those with close ties to deposed deputy premier Mr Anwar, who was sacked by Dr Mahathir in September 1998 and subsequently jailed. Tycoon Lim Thian Kiat, a corporate ally of Mr Anwar's, was directed by the government to only negotiate with Mr Akbar over the sale of the conglomerate.
Government officials familiar with the ongoing investigation said that the current probe into the MPHB takeover revolves around the convoluted nature of how the deal was structured.
Investigators are particularly interested in how an MPHB unit extended a US$140 million loan to Akbar-linked concerns in the British Virgin Islands, Eightybridge United SA and Strykers Development Inc, that were in turn used to acquire controlling blocks of shares in MPHB from Mr Lim, according to sources.
Righteous Crane Holding is owned by a fund managed by Tower Capital Asia, a unit of Temasek Holdings and founding family members of Eu Yan Sang, according to a separate statement issued by Tower Capital Asia on Thursday.
